Nearly 11 months after authorities registered a case regarding the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl, the Greater Chennai Police have arrested prominent granite businessman R Veeramani and two of his associates. The arrests came several months after investigators had initially sought to close the case before a special court.

R Veeramani, who serves as the founder of GEM Granites, was taken into custody recently alongside his two associates. Following their apprehension, the three individuals were produced before a local court, which subsequently remanded them in judicial custody pending further legal proceedings.

Initial Discovery of the Digital Evidence

The entire legal matter came to public and official attention on October 6, 2025. On that day, a local man approached a police inspector and handed over a digital pen drive, explaining that someone had given the device to him.

According to initial reports, the device contained a video file that purportedly showed an elderly man sexually assaulting a minor girl. Recognizing the severity of the allegations, police officials formally registered an official case on the very next day.

Initial Hurdles and Closure Report

During the early stages of the inquiry, investigators encountered significant difficulties in identifying the victim or establishing her exact whereabouts. However, during the course of their inquiries, police received specific tips pointing toward R Veeramani and a couple.

When questioned, R Veeramani strongly denied that he was the individual visible in the video footage. He also maintained that no such unlawful incident had ever taken place at the property linked to the trio.

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Acting on these findings, the police filed a official “further action dropped” report before the special POCSO court. Investigators cited several reasons, including their inability to identify the minor girl and digital data indicators suggesting that the video itself dated back to 2019.

Judicial Intervention and Rejection

The legal trajectory shifted on August 19, 2025, when the special court formally rejected the police closure report. The court ordered a comprehensive further investigation into the matter.

Furthermore, the judicial authority directed law enforcement officials to actively continue the probe and report their investigative progress within a strict timeframe of four weeks.

Following the court's directive, police officials stated that subsequent investigations successfully established that the elderly man seen in the controversial video clip was indeed R Veeramani.

According to an official police statement, Veeramani had rented a specific residential house located in Teynampet. He had entrusted the daily management of this property to two individuals identified as Shanthi and Simhan.

Investigators now allege that several minor girls were brought to this Teynampet house, where R Veeramani allegedly committed sexual offenses against them. Police confirmed they successfully seized a video related to one of these alleged offenses.

During subsequent search operations conducted at the residences and offices belonging to the accused persons, police teams recovered photographs of other minor women and girls. Authorities seized this material as relevant evidence for the ongoing criminal investigation.

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Despite these developments, police sources have confirmed that the specific minor girl seen in the original video clip has still not been positively identified.

Additionally, investigators have not yet disclosed the identity of the person who originally recorded the footage. They also have not explained how the unidentified citizen who handed over the initial pen drive actually obtained the device.

Consequently, the accused individuals have been formally booked under Sections 7, 8, 15(1), and 21(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They also face charges under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

In response to the developments, Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj has issued direct instructions to the investigative team. They must determine conclusively whether the minor girl in the video suffered sexual assault.

Authorities are also carefully examining how law enforcement handled the case immediately after its initial registration. They are reviewing the exact circumstances that led investigators to seek a closure of the probe in the first place.