The arrest of a Tamil Nadu granite tycoon has exposed a sordid tale of how a serial paedophile exploited political patronage for decades until finally exposed by a persistent POCSO judge.

Published : Oct 09, 2026 16:47 IST – 10 MINS READ

Ilangovan Rajasekaran

Gem Granites founder R. Veeramani, accused of sexually abusing several minor girls, leaving a special POCSO court, in Chennai on October 7. | Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

“Final report not accepted. Further investigation is ordered. Further investigation shall be completed, or progress shall be reported in 4 weeks.”

This decisive rejection of the Tamil Nadu Police’s “Further Action Dropped” (FAD) report by S. Padma, the District Judge of the Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, on February 18 this year, renewed interest in a case that had effectively escaped public notice until then.

The judge was hearing a case filed against R. Veeramani, a well-known Tamil Nadu granite tycoon with powerful political connections. The 84-year-old had been charged with paedophilia and sex offences, but the police filed a closure report citing inadequate evidence.

Justice Padma refused to close the case and demanded further investigation, resulting in Veeramani’s arrest on August 29 and a series of disclosures that have shaken the State and exposed a powerful criminal lobby with many layers of influence and intimidation that attempted to cover up the case.

Veeramani has been remanded to judicial custody at Chennai’s Puzhal Central Prison, along with Mahendra Simhan, 63, and Shanthi, 60, a couple accused of abetting his crimes. But for the judge’s insistence on a fresh investigation, the crime might have been hushed up. A granite mining and exports baron whose empire is reportedly worth several hundred crores, Veeramani is chairman of the Gem Group of Industries and sits on the board of several companies. He heads industry associations and is also a member of government bodies.

THE GEM GRAPH

A Madras High Court lawyer, Veeramani set up Gem Granites in 1972, when the DMK’s M. Karunanidhi was Chief Minister. Veeramani’s family was active in the DMK movement; his father was a Periyar follower who contested from Tiruchengodu Assembly constituency on a DMK ticket, and his sister was married to a party MP.

Having grown his granite export empire in the 1970s, Veeramani later built his political links with the AIADMK too, establishing a strong strategic relationship with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Veeramani’s profile demonstrates how Dravidian politics rose in tandem with the regional bourgeoisie of Tamil Nadu to the mutual benefit of both. It enabled rapid economic growth in the State but also opened the doors to local mafias controlling industries such as granite, stone, sand quarrying, and manufacture of Indian-made foreign liquor.

So far, 12 victims have been identified. Two of them reportedly died by suicide, and their mothers have come forward with complaints. The charge sheets for all cases are to be filed shortly. Sources said that Veeramani’s paedophilia was well known in certain circles and that he is probably guilty of abusing hundreds of minor girls for more than 40 years now.

His crimes reportedly came to light in 2003 itself and again in 2019, but he is believed to have evaded the law with the help of money and connections in high places. He was finally exposed by people in his inner circle who appear to have collected evidence against him. Sources indicate that he was being blackmailed for more than a decade.

According to the police, on October 6, 2025, an unidentified man delivered a pen drive to Praveena Solomon, State coordinator of the Indian Community Welfare Organisation (ICWO), a Chennai-based NGO. It contained a video clip dating back to 2019 of a man sexually abusing an unidentified minor girl in what was later identified as Shanthi’s house. The man was identified as Veeramani.

A.S. Hariharan, secretary of the ICWO, told Frontline that the organisation, which works with sexually exploited minors and women, routinely alerts the police when it receives evidence of sexual violence. “We did that in this case too. We work in tandem with the police and maintain utmost confidentiality to ensure the victims’ right to privacy,” he said.

Solomon lodged a complaint with the police on the same day (October 6, 2025). The next day, the Chennai Central Crime Branch (CCB) registered an FIR under Sections 7 and 8 (sexual assault against a child without penetration) of the POCSO Act, naming Veeramani as Accused No. 1 and Shanthi as Accused No. 2. But the two were not arrested.

Police lethargy

In a disturbing twist thereafter, the CCB, on instructions from the then Chennai Police Commissioner, A. Arun, and the Additional Commissioner, Central Crime Branch, N. Kannan, transferred the investigation to the Anti-Vice Squad under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner M.A. Yasmin. After four months of investigation, the Anti-Vice Squad filed the FAD report, stating that evidence from the video clip was inconclusive and the case would be reopened if more evidence was found.

The report said that Veeramani had denied he was the person in the video and Shanthi had claimed that the house in the clip was not hers. It further said that the video was blurred, that a certified cyber expert could not enhance its quality, and that the police could not link the crime to the accused.

At a protest against Veeramani, in Madurai on Septmember 25, 2026. | Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY

Although Justice Padma ordered reinvestigation, the State government—now headed by Chief Minister Joseph C. Vijay of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), sworn in on May 10—appeared to drag its feet, seeking repeated adjournments.

On June 19, July 20, and August 3, the investigating officer told the court the probe was “still pending”. On August 27, the government again told the court that the Forensic Science Laboratory reports were “pending”.

THE MODUS OPERANDI

According to police sources, Veeramani’s associate Shanthi would reportedly target girls aged 14 to 15 from disadvantaged social groups who were students in government schools. First, their families would be befriended, and then the girls would be plied with toys, candy, and clothes. They would slowly start visiting Shanthi’s bungalow, where they would meet Veeramani, who would encourage them to take loans and accept gifts. After grooming them for a few months, Veeramani would then lure and assault them.

Finally, the police traced the primary survivor in the video (aged 12 at the time) and had her statement recorded before a magistrate. On August 29, the CCB’s Immoral Trafficking Prevention Unit arrested Veeramani, Shanthi, and Mahendra Simhan, and this is when the media picked up the story. Veeramani’s assistant Ganeshan was arrested later on the charge of knowingly withholding video evidence from investigators.

On September 22, Chief Minister Vijay directed Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A. Amalraj to expand the investigation and probe hidden financial transactions reportedly used to suppress the case and allegedly involving high-ranking police officers, politicians, and others. The investigation has since revealed the transfer of Rs.23.64 crore from Veeramani’s bank account to Shanthi and Mahendra Simhan. The money trail is under investigation.

On September 24, three senior police officers involved in the original inquiries were shunted out. Arun and Kannan were stripped of their posts and placed on “compulsory wait”, while Yasmin and investigation officer Inspector C. Mahesh Kumar were placed on “vacancy reserve”.

Tamil Nadu DGP Mahesh Kumar Agarwal formed an all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT) under Additional Commissioner of Police P.C. Thenmozhi to take over the investigation, with Commissioner Amalraj directed to coordinate with them.

Subsequently, Sections 3 and 4 of the amended POCSO Act of 2019 have also been invoked against Veeramani. They deal with penetrative sexual assault of minor girls, and if the allegations are proved, he could face imprisonment of up to 20 years or life imprisonment.

More survivors have now come forward, indicating a timeline covering four decades, hundreds of minor survivors, and an organised network that enabled their procurement and abuse. Some of them are now in their 40s and 50s, but the POCSO Act can be invoked if the victim was a minor at the time of the assault.

Murky goings-on

Veeramani could not have escaped scrutiny for so long without the active collusion of the police and successive governments. For instance, experts are questioning whether the police had the right to file the FAD report since a closure report is not an option in POCSO cases unless the crime is not sufficiently established. Even then, the case is not automatically closed.

The law states that a FAD report’s “legal validity” depends on the nature of the case, leaving space for judicial officers to take the final call, as Justice Padma did.

On September 23, Ranjan Kumar, leader of the Tamil Nadu State Congress’ SC/ST Wing, told mediapersons that he had filed a police complaint with video evidence against Veeramani in November 2024 itself.

He also said that he and Shanthi had met the Dalit leader John Pandian in connection with the case but did not explain why or how he became involved in the issue in the first place. That the police did not file an FIR on the basis of Ranjan Kumar’s complaint is a serious lapse. But Ranjan Kumar has also come under fire for his failure to pursue the matter at the time.

COLLAPSING POCSO CASES

Hundreds of POCSO cases, including those that involve serious sexual offences, collapse every year owing to inadequate evidence and the reluctance of victims to report the crimes for fear of social stigma. The conviction rate in POCSO across the country is only 30 per cent.

According to National Crime Records Bureau data, between 2020 and 2024, 1.84 lakh girl children were identified as victims under the POCSO Act, of whom 96,505 were sexually assaulted. Nearly 97 per cent of the accused were known to the victims. About 43 per cent of the 3,000-odd cases registered every year are disposed of by the police on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence.

In Tamil Nadu, 18,733 cases are currently pending in the courts. It is in this context that Special Judge Padma’s insistence on further investigation assumes special significance. In the Veeramani case, too, the police had claimed insufficient evidence.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently confirmed a Special Court’s death sentence in a POCSO case in Tirunelveli, observing that it was a “rarest of rare case” that warranted capital punishment. “The law must possess a spine of steel when dealing with those who prey on children to satisfy their darkest instincts,” the bench observed.

The case has now become highly politicised, with the ruling TVK government accusing the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of shielding the accused and pressuring the police to go slow on the case. Former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who was Home Minister when the FIR was filed, has strongly denied it, and the DMK has filed a defamation case against two TVK Ministers for the allegations.

The DMK also filed a petition demanding that inquiries be initiated against Chief Minister Vijay and Ministers Aadhav Arjuna and C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar in connection with the case. The Madras High Court adjourned the petition, observing that the SIT must be allowed to work in peace.

While the slugfest is likely to continue, politics cannot be allowed to diminish the chilling nature of Veeramani’s crimes or delay justice for his many minor victims. This will depend largely on a free and fair investigation being allowed to proceed at least now.