Pocso case: Granite baron Veeramani, couple detained under Goondas Act

CHENNAI: Granite baron R Veeramani (84) and a couple who allegedly worked as his associates were detained under the Goondas Act on Thursday (October 1) on the orders of Chennai city police Commissioner A Amalraj.

Veeramani, Mahandra Simhan (63), and his wife Shanthi (60) were arrested by the city police in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act case.

Meanwhile, the special investigation team that the State police chief had set up has so far received five actionable information through the mobile phone number (9345319676) that it had set up for the public to lodge complaints or share any information, facts, documents, or other important details related to this case either directly or through WhatsApp.

The police are also investigating Veeramani's financial transactions in the recent past, said officials.

Veeramani, who owns GEM Granites and group of companies, and his associates have been in prison since August 29. The police have filed at least four cases so far against Veeramani.

A pendrive with a video of an elderly man sexually abusing a child was sent to the city police's Immoral Trafficking Prevention Unit (ITPU) in October 2025 and a case was registered on October 7, 2025.

However, the city police filed a closure report in February stating that the video is unclear, which was rejected by the special court judge after which police began investigations again.

Later, the police identified the elderly man in the video as Veeramani and began probe. Investigations revealed that he had rented a house in Teynampet where he sexually exploited several minor girls and women.

The investigators also found that Veeramani had entrusted the management of the rented property to his associates, Mahendra Simhan and his wife, Shanthi.

Subsequently, the police arrested a fourth accused, Veeramani’s former employee Ganesan (42), who was in allegedly possession of a video of Veeramani sexually abusing a minor.

The case was eventually transferred to an all-women special investigation team (SIT), supervised by Commissioner Amalraj.