CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Police (GCP) have ruled out the “Epstein” angle in the matter involving arrested Pocso case accused R Veeramani (85), GEM Group of Companies chairman. Based on the inquiries and evidence gathered so far, it is learnt that the minor girls were not sent to other friends and associates of Veeramani.
“At the current point of the investigation, it seems only Veeramani is the predator in the case,” a senior police officer told TNIE. In another update, police sources told TNIE that one of Veeramani’s associates and a prime accused arrested in the case had also been sexually assaulted by the granite baron when she was a minor.
“This takes the exploitation further back to the mid-1980s. We are trying to ascertain the total extent and scale of the exploitation,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the police have intensified the probe and are investigating multiple angles and leads, including ‘financial transactions’ that allegedly led to the case being suppressed in the past and a land deal involving highly influential people to prevent legal action.
Veeramani, the prime suspect, and his accomplices – Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simhan (63) who allegedly facilitated the offence – were booked under Sections 7, 8, 15(1) and 21(1) of the Pocso Act and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. They were arrested in August this year, 11 months after the case was registered.
Speaking at an event here on Monday, Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar compared the allegations against Veeramani with the Pollachi sexual assault case and questioned how the matter could allegedly be diluted or escape immediate scrutiny when the police department was under the control of then CM M K Stalin.
Nirmal Kumar questioned why the case did not receive immediate attention and sought an explanation from the previous government over the handling of the allegations.
School Education Minister A Rajmohan questioned the Left parties’ stand on the case, asking whether they condemned the alleged suppression of the case. Alleging that the previous regime had allowed political interference in the police department, PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna claimed that different standards of policing were applied based on political connections.
