The Tamil Nadu central crime branch on Wednesday raided the properties owned by the industrialist R Veeramani, the chairman of Gem Group of Companies who was arrested in a Pocso case in August, officials confirmed.
The surprise raids at the properties located in and around Chennai, comes a day after a former employee Ganeshan who worked for 23 years, at the Gem Granite company, one of the group entities of Gem Group of Companies, was arrested.
As of Wednesday, four people including R Veeramani, his close aides Shanthi, her husband Mahandra Simhan and Ganeshan, a former employee, have been arrested.
Deep Dive
What evidence was found during the raids on R Veeramani's properties?
Why was a former employee of R Veeramani arrested in the ongoing POCSO case?
What demands are being made regarding the investigation into R Veeramani's case?
According to the police, the officials searched the residences and properties belonging to R Veeramani and the Gem Group of Companies and recovered various documents, digital evidences, financial transactions.
Shanthi’s video claims life threat
{{/usCountry}}Shanthi’s video claims life threat
{{/usCountry}}Separately, a video emerged of Shanthi emerged on the social media on Wednesday which is learnt to have been taken before her arrest, in which she claims threat to her life because of Veeramani and his son Siddharth Veeramani.
In the video, Shanthi said, “This is regarding Mr R Veeramani who is the chairman of Gem Group of Companies. I am a bit emotional to say anything spontaneously. So therefore I will read out the statement.”
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“I have been under possible life threat from R Veeramani chairman of Gem Group of Companies, 78, Cathedral Road, Chennai, and his son Siddharth Veeramani for the reasons explained below. I have been known to Veeramani from the childhood as a close family friend. He used to visit my house in the pretext of helping us from business fronts.” she said.
“Since I was too young around 13 years old, I was not mature enough to foresee his bad intentions and was unknowingly becoming a victim of his vicious sexual advances”, Shanthi said.
Recalling that Veeramani acted like a ‘god father’ to her, Shanthi said, he used her for his personal benefits assuring her of bright promises in return.
“I used to trust him one hundred per cent and do everything that he had asked me to do for him including arranging funds through my known sources...” she said in the video.
Properties sold by Veeramani in Februrary 2026
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.
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.
Officials said that the timing of the sale “raised questions” as it was in February the police dropped the case citing lack of sufficient details to arrest him.
However, after a special court refused to entertain their plea, the case was reopened and later in August 2026, Veeramani and his close aides were arrested.
Additional commissioner of police (South) Narenthiran Nayar was tasked with conduct leading a team to probe the financial transactions of Veeramani.
The investigation comes in the backdrop of allegations of financial transactions involving police officials, media persons and political personalities.
Demand for Special Investigation Team
Former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai demanded that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) be formed to conduct a probe in the incident.
Also Read:‘Blurry video’: Police seeks R Veeramani sexual assault case closure; Pocso court denies
Annamalai, a former IPS office, said, “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.”
Appreciating the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam for taking swift action in the case, Annamalai said, “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.”
Annamalai further said, “It is also reported that a huge sum of money was exchanged in this process. A Special Investigation Team must be constituted immediately to uncover the entire network that allowed this to continue for so long.”
Meanwhile, minister for school education A Rajmohan said the police have expanded the investigation with the arrest of Ganeshan and underlined that the case is under the close monitoring of the chief minister C Joseph Vijay. He warned that nobody can escape from the long arm of law.