Chennai Police Rule Out Epstein Network Angle in R Veeramani Pocso Case
The Greater Chennai Police have ruled out an "Epstein" trafficking network angle in the ongoing Pocso case against 85-year-old granite baron and GEM Group of Companies chairman R Veeramani. Based on inquiries and evidence gathered so far, investigators determined that minor girls were not trafficked or sent to Veeramani's friends and associates.
A senior police officer stated that at the current point of the investigation, Veeramani appears to be the sole predator in the case. Investigators confirmed that the minor victims were not shared with outside networks, refuting earlier speculation regarding a wider ring of abusers.
Police sources also revealed that one of Veeramani's associates, who was arrested as a prime accused in the case, had herself been sexually assaulted by him when she was a minor. An officer noted that this revelation pushes the documented timeline of exploitation back to the mid-1980s, prompting the police to examine the full extent and historical scale of the abuse over several decades.
Veeramani, along with alleged accomplices Shanthi and her 63-year-old husband Mahendra Simhan, was arrested in August this year, 11 months after the first case was registered. The accused were booked under Sections 7, 8, 15(1), and 21(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, as well as Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, for their roles in facilitating the offences.
In addition to the assault charges, the police have intensified their investigation into the historical suppression of complaints against Veeramani. Authorities are probing multiple financial transactions and a land deal involving highly influential figures that allegedly prevented legal action from being initiated in earlier years.
The case has also triggered political scrutiny regarding the delay in arrests. Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar compared the allegations to the Pollachi sexual assault case, questioning why the matter escaped immediate scrutiny under previous administrative oversight. School Education Minister A Rajmohan challenged the stand of Left parties on the alleged suppression, while PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna alleged that past political interference had influenced police action.
