Granite baron R Veeramani booked in 3rd child rape case: A police station fire erased the record, but not the trail

CHENNAI: For years, the case existed only in fragments — a girl’s death, an old police case and a file that no longer existed. The records were lost when the Ice House police station was gutted in a fire after the 2017 Jallikattu protests.Nine years later, the questions surrounding that death have returned, this time as part of the widening investigation against granite baron R Veeramani.A 2004 death returns to the SIT’s radarThe Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations against Veeramani has registered a third case against him, this one linked to the death of a Class XI student who died by suicide in 2004.The girl’s mother approached police after learning of Veeramani’s arrest and alleged that her daughter had been sexually assaulted after being taken to his guest house.According to the complaint, the girl had been receiving financial assistance from Veeramani for her education at a school in Teynampet. Her mother alleged that Veeramani invited the girl to his guest house on the pretext of giving her a Diwali gift.After she returned home, the girl became withdrawn and later died by suicide at her house in Ice House.A funeral, Rs 30,000 and an alleged trail of paymentsHer body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem and later handed over to her parents.According to the complaint, an associate of Veeramani, who was later arrested in the current investigation, visited the mortuary and gave the girl’s mother Rs 30,000 for funeral expenses. The associate also arranged for the cremation at Krishnampet crematorium.The mother further alleged that Veeramani later offered Rs 1.5 lakh towards her niece’s marriage. She alleged that cash and gifts were given to her and relatives to prevent details surrounding her daughter’s death from becoming public.The case existed. Then the file disappearedThe old case had originally been registered by Ice House police as a suicide case.But when the mother approached Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj last week, investigators found that the original records had been destroyed when the police station was gutted in a fire after the 2017 Jallikattu protests.The physical file was gone. But the case had left traces elsewhere.What the fire could not eraseThe SIT obtained details of the old case from the office of the assistant commissioner of police and the court concerned. These records allowed investigators to continue examining the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death.The development has given a fresh life to a case that had remained dormant for years — and placed an old death within the scope of the SIT’s current investigation.One POCSO case opened a much wider trailThe latest case adds another layer to an investigation that began with an alleged sexual assault of a minor in 2019.Veeramani was arrested on August 29 after a special POCSO court rejected an earlier police attempt to close the case when the survivor could not initially be traced. Investigators later identified her and recorded her statement before a magistrate.The probe then widened. Police identified at least seven other minor girls who reportedly testified about alleged sexual abuse over the years.A second POCSO case was subsequently registered based on a complaint by the mother of another survivor, alleging that her daughter was sexually assaulted in 2024.Now the investigation is moving backwardsWith the third case, the SIT is no longer looking only at recent allegations. It is also examining an old death, allegations surrounding what happened before it, and records that survived even after the original police file was destroyed.Nine years after the Ice House fire erased the case records, the questions surrounding the girl’s death have returned to the centre of a much wider investigation.Who is R VeeramaniR Veeramani, 84, is the founder of Gem Granites and chairperson of the Gem Group, a prominent granite business conglomerate. A native of Namakkal, Veeramani is also a lawyer. He is currently in judicial custody in connection with a POCSO case involving allegations of sexual abuse of minor girls over several years. Police arrested him on August 29 along with his associates Shanthi and Mahendra Simhan after a Special POCSO Court rejected a closure report and ordered further investigation. Investigators have since identified multiple alleged survivors and are probing whether the abuse extended over more than two decades.(The victims' identity has not been revealed to protect their privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assaul)You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in ChennaiStay updated with the latest Chennai news. Download the TOI App.