Officers with Tamil Nadu’s central crime branch on Wednesday conducted a series of surprise raids at properties owned by granite baron R Veeramani, who is accused of sexually assaulting multiple minors at a guest house in Chennai’s Teynampet for decades, police said on Wednesday.
The raids took place after a former employee in Veeramani’s GEM group identified as Ganesan was arrested for hiding a video depicting Veeramani behaving inappropriately with a child. His was the third arrest in the case after Veeramani, his close aide Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simhan.
A senior police officer, requesting anonymity on Tuesday said that Ganeshan took care of Veeramani’s financial transactions and was instrumental in selling his properties at East Coast Road to help him evade arrest in the case.
Deep Dive
What evidence led to the arrest of R Veeramani and his associates in the POCSO case?
Why are financial transactions related to R Veeramani under investigation?
How has the public reacted to the POCSO case against R Veeramani?
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Police on Wednesday said that the properties were sold in February 2026.
As per the details in the sale deed, one property located at Vettuvankeni on the East Coast Road (near Chennai) measuring 2.15 acre was sold at ₹36.52 crore while another land at Neelankarai in East Coast Road measuring 1.44 acre was sold at ₹43.72 crore. “The sale has been made on February 3, 2026”, the details about the two properties said.
Meanwhile, a clip circulating on social media purportedly depicts Shanthi claiming that her life was in danger from Veeramani and certain family members.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, a clip circulating on social media purportedly depicts Shanthi claiming that her life was in danger from Veeramani and certain family members.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) take over the probe.
“The initial investigation of the POCSO case against GEM Veeramani, the pedophile who had reportedly sexually exploited many young children, is an example of what the Tamil Nadu police department has transformed into. Despite the existence of video evidence of the alleged sexual abuse of a minor, the police sought to close the investigation, as they could not identify the victim and the perpetrator. The court refused to accept the report and ordered further investigation,” he said.
Also Read | ‘Blurry video’: Police seeks R Veeramani sexual assault case closure; Pocso court denies
“The investigation cannot stop with the arrest of Veeramani and his accomplices. Every police officer, politician and influential individual who helped shield him for the past many years must also be brought to justice,” added Annamalai, a former IPS officer.
Meanwhile, minister for school education A Rajmohan said the police has expanded the investigation with the arrest of Ganesan and underlined that the case was being closely monitored by chief minister C Joseph Vijay.