Second POCSO Case Filed Against Veeramani as SIT Widens Probe
A fresh POCSO case has been registered against granite businessman R Veeramani after a mother approached the Special Investigation Team, widening an inquiry that has already led to four arrests.
A second POCSO case has been registered against granite businessman R Veeramani after the mother of a minor girl approached the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations against him, further widening an investigation that has already produced four arrests.
The new case rests on the mother's complaint and is being handled by the four-member SIT set up by Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal. Veeramani, lodged in Puzhal prison since his arrest on August 29, was formally arrested in the second case through prison authorities.
In a move signalling the inquiry's growing scope, the SIT on Monday publicly urged anyone holding complaints, information, documents or other material linked to Veeramani and the connected POCSO cases to come forward. A dedicated WhatsApp number has been provided, with assurances that informants' identities will remain confidential. The Chennai police said every piece of information would be examined and immediate legal action taken where warranted, adding that appropriate steps were already being taken on complaints received from victims.
Separately, investigators are scrutinising a complaint from another woman about the death of her teenage daughter more than two decades ago. The woman has said she sought Veeramani's help with her daughter's education and that he assisted in securing school admission, after which, she alleges, he sexually abused the girl. Police are verifying the claims.
One account given to police describes the girl visiting Veeramani's house and growing withdrawn in the days before she died by suicide at her home in 2004. A case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was registered at the time. Records from that case were reported destroyed in a police station fire during the 2017 Jallikattu protests; investigators have since retrieved details of the old FIR from copies held by the court concerned and the Assistant Commissioner's office.
The SIT is headed by Additional Commissioner of Police P C Thenmozhi, with Joint Commissioner Disha Mittal, Superintendent of Police J Mutharasi and Deputy Commissioner V V Geethanjali as members.
The wider inquiry traces back to a POCSO case registered in October 2025, after police received a pen drive containing a video purportedly showing Veeramani sexually abusing a minor. Police initially sought to close the matter, saying the girl could not be identified, but the Special POCSO Court rejected the closure report and ordered further investigation. The renewed probe saw the girl in the video identify herself and Veeramani, leading to the August 29 arrests of Veeramani, Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simhan. Ganesan, a former Gem Granites employee of more than two decades, was arrested later after a video allegedly showing Veeramani abusing a minor girl was found on his phone.
The SIT has also questioned Congress functionary Ranjan Kumar, who has claimed he approached Chennai police with evidence concerning Veeramani as early as 2024.