Chennai: Seven police officers, including former Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A. Arun (Indian Police Service) and former Anti-Vice Squad Assistant Commissioner M.A. Yasmin, have been named by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the first Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case against Gem Granites founder R. Veeramani.
According to the police, the officers were included in the FIR registered against Veeramani and others. They face allegations of failing to conduct a proper inquiry and not acting on available information and evidence, which earlier led to a closure report before the special court.
The allegations against Veeramani first reached senior Chennai police officers in 2024. Congress leader and Member of Parliament Ranjan Kumar had submitted a complaint to the then Additional Commissioner of Police (South) in November 2024 and shared material with the Anti-Vice Squad. No FIR was registered at the time.
The police officers have been booked under Section 21 of the POCSO Act for failing to report or record a case of child sexual abuse, and under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to disobedience of legal directions, false evidence, and causing the disappearance of evidence. Their names were added to the original FIR.
The then Additional Commissioner of Police (South) N. Kannan has not been named as an accused. Sources said his role was limited to receiving a complaint and forwarding it to then Commissioner A. Arun. The development comes a day after the SIT filed its first chargesheet in one of the cases against Veeramani.
The 720-page chargesheet, submitted on Wednesday before the Special Court for exclusive trial of POCSO cases, names Veeramani and his two drivers, Parthiban and Babu, as accused. It is based on the complaint of the mother of a 14-year-old girl from a Scheduled Caste community. Police said Veeramani sexually abused the minor, while the drivers allegedly knew about the offence and transported the girl to his premises.
The three have been charged under Sections 366 and 506(2) of the IPC, provisions of the POCSO Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The chargesheet lists 40 witnesses, and was filed within 46 days of the case being registered on 27 September.
The first FIR in the case was registered against Veeramani in October 2025 after a child rights activist approached the Anti-Vice Squad with a pen drive containing visuals of the minor’s abuse. The initial investigation could not identify the minor girl, leading police to file a closure report in February this year. The special court rejected the report, and questioned the failure to establish the crime scene despite having a video. After the court ordered further investigation, the case was reopened in July.
Veeramani and two others were arrested on 29 August. The SIT, constituted by the state police chief on 24 September, has since registered seven cases involving nine victims. A blue corner notice has been issued against one absconding accused, Prakash Kannaiah, to probe the money trail.
Earlier on Wednesday, Archana Veeramani, daughter of granite baron R. Veeramani, approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash summons issued by the Special Investigation Team probing the POCSO cases against her father. In her petition, she contended that she was not an accused in the case, alleging that the SIT had violated her human rights by subjecting her to questioning after forcing her to deboard a Singapore-bound flight. Justice V. Lakshminarayanan directed the SIT to file its response to the petition and adjourned the matter to 17 November.
On Thursday, State Public Prosecutor R. John Sathyan informed the Madras High Court that the first chargesheet had been filed and two more would follow in 10 days. He said the SIT was also examining the role of officers involved in the earlier closure report. Justice V. Lakshminarayanan also noted the SIT’s progress on the case as satisfactory and stressed that protecting children’s interests must remain the priority. The hearing was adjourned to 30 November.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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