Veeramani child sex abuse case: SIT names ex-Greater Chennai top cop as accused for inaction
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing granite baron R Veeramani’s alleged child sex abuse cases, has named five police officers, including former Greater Chennai Commissioner A Arun, for inaction under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and for causing the disappearance of evidence in a charge sheet submitted before a local court.Assistant Commissioner MA Yasmin is also among the five named in the charge sheet, people aware of the matter said.
The five have been charged over the closure report filed in the case four months after Veeramani’s purportedly explicit video with a minor was submitted to the police in October 2025 and alleged attempts to hush up the matter.The five have been booked under POCSO Act section 21 (failure to report or record child sexual abuse) and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 199 (public servants disobeying directions of law, failure to record sexual offence reports) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen an offender).The 720-page charge sheet, which names Veeramani and two of his drivers, was filed on Wednesday in one of the seven cases the SIT has registered.
The cases were registered based on complaints from the nine girls, who were allegedly assaulted, and their mothers.The case was registered on September 27, following a complaint by a mother alleging that Veeramani sexually abused her 14-year-old daughter, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste.Veeramani’s drivers, Parthiban and Babu, allegedly brought the girl to Veeramani’s Chennai residence, where she was sexually abused.The three were booked under BNS sections 87 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to force illicit intercourse), section 351 (3) (aggravated criminal intimidation such as a threat to cause death, grievous hurt), the POCSO Act, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.Police said the 720-page charge sheet is based on 40 witnesses’ testimonies.The alleged abuse surfaced in October 2025 after a pen drive containing a video purportedly showing Veeramani assaulting a girl was handed over to Chennai’s Central Crime BranchIn August, Veeramani and his accomplices, Shanthi and her husband, Mahendra Simhan, were arrested months after a local court rejected a police closure report in February.
The report was filed four months after Veeramani’s purportedly explicit video was submitted.Police told the court that the case could be reopened if new evidence emerged. But the court instructed police to continue the probe.The SIT has issued five lookout circulars, including for Archana, Veeramani’s daughter, and businessman Prakash.The sale of Veeramani’s two properties near Chennai, worth ₹36.52 crore and ₹43.72 crore, has been under the scanner because it coincided with the police closure report in February.Police were investigating the link between the sale and the case and whether the proceeds were used as bribes.The SIT is moving to impound the passport of Prakash, one of the key accused in the case, and have him extradited, as he is absconding and is believed to be in the United Kingdom.Prakash was identified as one of the people involved in financial transactions, including with police personnel, to help Veeramani, 84, evade arrest in the case.Investigators said Veeramani’s manager, Shaktivel, procured 23 gold bars to protect his boss, who was arrested in August.
Shaktivel was arrested on October 18 for allegedly transferring cash to “influential people.”
