Chennai, Oct 5:
The Chennai Central Crime Branch (CCB) Police, which is probing the sexual assault cases involving tainted bizman R.Veeramani of Gem Granites, has booked yet another case against him under the POCSO Act.
This is the fifth case booked against the paedophile case accused, who was arrested, along with a couple who were his acquaintances, and remanded in judicial custody for sexually assaulting severe juvenile girls over the years. As more complaints started pouring against him, the trio were now detained under the Goondas Act. Later one more person–his former employee–was also arrested.
The fifth case was filed against him following a complaint from a Chennai-based woman, who alleged that her daughter was subjected to sexual abuse by him.
Meanwhile, the Legal wing of the ruling TVK petitioned the CCB and also the Special Investigation team (SIT) seeking an expanded probe into the alleged attempts made during the previous DMK regime to shield the industrialist and cover up the case. It said the probe should also include the the stand taken by former Chief Minister M.K.Stalin, former Law Minister S. Regupathy, and senior police officers and also wanted the CCB to ascertain whether the first complaint, lodged in October 2025, reached Stalin, who held the Home portfolio, and whether any directions were issued.
The petition also questioned how the former Law Minister made remarks in public on the quality of the video evidence submitted along with the complaint in the first case. The second case was filed following a complaint alleged sexual assault of a girl in 2024, which was followed by the third case of sexual assault and abettment of suicide after the victim’s mother filed a complaint. The mother said her daughter studying in 11th standard had committed suicide in 2004 after she was sexually assaulted by him. The fourth case was registered on September 30 for sexual abse of another minor girl.
The case surfaced as early as in October last year during the previous DMK regime when a member of the Child Rights Activist Group handed over a video in which the octogenarian bizman was seen indulging in sexual misconduct with a minor girl. After registering a FIR, the probe did not proceed further as the police could not trace the identity of the victim and also filed a closure report before the POCSO court. However, the Judge rejected it and directed further investigation into the case.
Armed with the POCSO court order, the fresh probe by the new TVK government headed by Chief Minister Vijay, who had directed the police not to spare anyone, whomsoever it may be, found to the involved in the case, subsequently led to the identification of more alleged survivors and fresh evidences.
After recording the evidences of survivors in Court’s presence, thee CCB police arrested Veeramani, his acquaintance Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simhan. The bizman’s close associate and former employee of Gem Granites, Ganesan was the latest to land in the police net after the police found videos and other materials in his mobile phone pertaining to the obscene acts of Veeramani, which he had failed to disclose to the investigators.