The minor girl at the centre of the Chennai POCSO case involving granite businessman R Veeramani has been traced and has identified herself and Veeramani in the video that led to the investigation, senior police officers said. Her statement has been recorded before a Judicial Magistrate, marking a significant development after investigators earlier sought to close the case citing their inability to identify her.
Veeramani, founder of GEM Granites and chairman of the GEM Group of Companies, was arrested on August 29 along with his longtime associate Shanthi and her husband, Mahendra Simhan, managing director of Gem Software Solutions. The allegations against all three have not been adjudicated. Police have alleged that Shanthi and Simhan facilitated offences and were involved in tampering with or destroying evidence.
The case began on October 6, 2025, when a child-rights activist approached Chennai police with a USB drive containing footage purportedly showing Veeramani sexually assaulting a minor girl. The footage carried a timestamp from 2019. Police registered an FIR the following day and questioned Veeramani and Shanthi, who denied the allegations and said the man in the recording was not Veeramani.
The investigation later stalled. Police cited their inability to establish the identity or whereabouts of the girl, the absence of corroborating CCTV material and the failure of a cyber expert to retrieve the original recording from a DVR after several years. In February, the Anti-Vice Squad filed a report seeking to drop further action.
A Special POCSO Court refused to accept the closure report and ordered further investigation. The court questioned, among other issues, how investigators had failed to establish the scene of the alleged offence despite possessing the video. A senior police officer said the original team had not pursued the matter adequately and that it had not been escalated to higher-ranking officials.
After the investigation was revived, searches at a property in Teynampet led to the recovery of electronic devices that were sent for forensic examination. Police have also claimed to have found indications of evidence tampering. Investigators are examining whether alleged abuse extended beyond the Teynampet house to Veeramani’s residence, office and a guesthouse on the outskirts of Chennai.
Police said they had identified other women and minor girls who they suspect may have been sexually assaulted by Veeramani over a period of years. Statements from some suspected victims are being recorded, and investigators are examining whether charitable activities associated with Veeramani brought some of them into contact with him. Police have also invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused.
The court has granted police limited custody to question Veeramani. In view of his age and health, it directed that the interrogation take place within the Puzhal Central Prison complex, with access to legal counsel. The investigation will now focus on the statements of alleged victims, forensic examination of electronic devices and the police claims concerning the wider scope of the case.
