Tamil Nadu police have handed the child sexual abuse case against Gem Granites founder R. Veeramani to a newly formed special investigation team made up entirely of women officers. The case dates back to a pen drive containing video evidence that was passed to a child welfare volunteer around October 2025, after which the Anti-Vice Squad registered a case under the POCSO Act on October 7 that year. It later emerged that a Congress functionary had first alerted a Chennai police officer to allegations against Veeramani as early as November 2024, roughly a year before any case was formally registered. Veeramani, along with two associates identified as Shanthi and Mahendra Simhan, was arrested in August 2026 as the investigation widened. A special POCSO court rejected an earlier closure report filed in the matter on August 19 and directed the police to investigate further, a move that put the original handling of the case under scrutiny.
On the orders of Director General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, three senior officers were moved out of their posts this week over the alleged mishandling of the investigation. Additional Director General A. Arun, a former Chennai police commissioner, and Coimbatore Police Commissioner N. Kannan were both placed under compulsory wait, while the officer who filed the earlier closure report was transferred to the reserve line. A four-member all-woman SIT has now been constituted to take over the probe and examine why the case was not pursued more aggressively when the initial complaint surfaced. Chief Minister M.
K. Stalin said his government had not shielded anyone in the case and that due process would follow wherever the evidence led. The CPI(M) has separately demanded the suspension of the officers involved and called for the investigation to be monitored directly by the Madras High Court. A public interest litigation has also been filed in the High Court seeking either a CBI inquiry or a court-supervised SIT probe into the case. The episode has become a flashpoint in Tamil Nadu politics, with opposition parties accusing the state government of delaying action against an influential industrialist.