States » SouthPosted at: Nov 4 2026 10:50AM


Granite baron Veeramani POCSO cases : one more arrested by SIT

Chennai, Nov 4 (UNI) The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the multiple POCSO cases against granite baron R.Veeramani of Gem Granites, has arrested one more person in this connection.
Police said, the watchman of the tainted bizman, Srinivasan, was arrested in two POCSO cases, including aiding the baron in sexually exploiting juvenile girls.
Employed with him for over two decades, Srinivasan was charged with bringing the girls sending them to Veeramani's room, by switching off the power supply or changing the angles of the CCTV cameras, during entry and exit of the girls from the room.
Following his arrest, police conducted raids at his residence in Chennai's northern suburb of Ennore and his mobile phone was seized and sent to forensic lab for tests.
He was produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody after which he was taken to Puzhal Central prison.
With the arrest of Srinivasan, the total number of arrests in the case went up to nine. Those arrested included Veeramani, his acquaintance Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simkan, his former employee Ganesan, drives Lazer, Babu, Parthiban and his Manager Sakthivel.
Of the total eight POCSO cases registered against him, Veeramani, Shanthi and her husband were formally arrested in three cases.
Wideing the probe, the SIT also deboarded Veeramani's daughter Archana Veeramani from a Singapore-bound aircraft, detained her at the Chennai airport by the police and questioned her in connection with the large scale financial transactions, running to several crores, that took place to shield Veeramani from the case.
Veeramani was arrested after the POCSO court rejected the closure report and ordered the police to probe the matter based on the FIR registered in October 2025. Cases were registered against Veeramani and others under Secs 7,8,15(1), and 21(1) of the POCSO Act, Sections 354(A), 354(C), 201, and 120(B) of IPC and Sections 66(E), and 67(B) of the IT Act.
The probe by the CCB police unravelled several startling revelations including huge money trial running to crores of rupees, besides transfer of more than 20 kg of gold between Veeramani and a suspected mediator(s) in November 2024 when the first complaint was filed, and in early this year (2026) when the closure report was filed. Since the probe also unearthed the involvement of top police officials and also some affluent and influential persons, the Tamil Nadu Government constituted an all-women Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the case in detail.
Based on a complaint from a child right activist and a pen drive given by him containing video footages of the sexual assault on a minor by the bizman, Veeramani and two of his acquaintances Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simkan were arrested on August 29 and all the three were subsequently detained under the Goondas Act following receipt of more complaints against him and recording of statements from the victims.
Later, the bizman's former employee Ganesan was arrested on September 22 for not disclosing to the investigators, the contents of the videos containing the inappropriate acts of Veeramani, which he had in his possession. During the investigation into the five cases, police identified three of Veeramani's drivers — Lazar, Parthiban and Babu — for having allegedly aided his sexual offences by bringing minor girls to him and the trio were arrested on October 5. Sakthivel was arrested days later on October 18 and Srinivasan on November two, taking the total to nine.
The Madras High Court also refused to order a CBI probe on a plea and said the SIT should be given some breathing time to investigate the case. It had also dismissed two other pleas as withdrawn seeking transferring the probe to the Central Investigating agency.
Apart from unravelling huge sums of money trail, running to more than Rs 50 crores allegedly to shield the industrialist, the investigation has also raised questions about the role of top police officers who handled the earlier complaint. A businessman Prakash Kannaiah, who is the son of Southern Railway Mazdoor union (SRMU) leader N.Kannaiahwas was said to have acted as the conduit in settling the financial deals to shield Veeramani in the case and evade justice. Though the police have issued summons against him, his anticipatory bail apprehending arrest in the case, was dismissed by the POCSO Court on October 16 and he was facing imminent arrest.
Since he was said to be staying in the UK, Police are now planning to seek Interpol assistance by issuing a Blue Corner notice for his repatriation. The SIT have also issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Prakash. Steps were also initiated to cancel his passport to prevent him from hopping to other countries and repatriathim to India to question him inthe case.
The SIT said the investigation into the cases are progressing expeditiously and the charge sheet would soon be filed in the court, and an undertaking in this regard was also given in the Special Court trying POCSO cases.
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