Police bid to close probe rejected, Chennai granite businessman arrested in POCSO case

Nearly a year after a case was filed over the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl, Greater Chennai Police have arrested R Veeramani, a granite businessman, and two associates. Veeramani, the founder of GEM Granites, was detained by the Central Crime Branch's Anti-Vice Squad alongside Shanthi and her husband, Mahendra Simhan, who allegedly aided the offense.

The trio appeared in court and were placed in judicial custody. The case emerged on October 6, 2025, after a man gave a police inspector a pen drive, claiming it had been received from an unidentified individual at his workplace. The device contained a video purportedly showing an elderly man sexually assaulting a minor girl. Police registered the complaint the next day.

Upon investigation, Veeramani and the couple denied involvement, with Veeramani asserting that he was not the individual depicted in the footage or that no incident had taken place at the relevant property. Police subsequently filed a "further action dropped" report before the special POCSO court, citing issues such as the inability to identify the victim and digital data indicating the video dated to 2019.

However, on August 19, the special court rejected the closure report and ordered a further investigation, directing police to conclude the probe or report progress within four weeks.

The investigation revealed that the man in the video was indeed Veeramani. He had rented a house in Teynampet, entrusting its management to Shanthi and Simhan. Allegations suggest that multiple minor girls were brought to the house, and Veeramani committed sexual offenses against them. Authorities seized a video pertaining to one alleged incident.

Searches of the accused's residences and offices uncovered photographs of other minor girls and women, as well as other material deemed relevant to the investigation. The girl depicted in the original video remains unidentified, according to police sources. The identities of the person who recorded the footage and how the unidentified individual obtained it have also not been disclosed.

Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj has tasked the investigation team with determining whether the minor seen in the video was sexually assaulted by more than one person. They are also scrutinizing the handling of the case from its registration and the circumstances surrounding investigators' initial attempts to close it.