DMK asks SIT to question CM Vijay, two TVK ministers over remarks linked to Veeramani POCSO case

Chennai, Sep 28 (IANS) The DMK has asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sexual abuse case against Gem Group chairman R. Veeramani to question Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and two ministers over allegations that the party protected him.

DMK treasurer and MP T.R. Baalu submitted a petition to the SIT seeking the evidence behind statements made by CM Vijay, Minister Adhav Arjuna and Law Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar. It said the claims were relevant to the investigation.

Veeramani has been arrested in a case involving allegations of sexual abuse of minors. The case has triggered political exchanges and calls for an impartial inquiry.

According to Baalu’s petition, CM Vijay alleged on September 25 that the DMK was shielding Veeramani. It said Adhav Arjuna claimed the same day that the party had protected him and improperly closed an earlier case against him. Nirmal Kumar alleged on September 26 that the DMK had received Rs 500 crore from Veeramani to protect him, the petition said.

The DMK called the claims defamatory. Baalu said investigators must examine the statements. The three leaders might have evidence relevant to the case that they had yet to give to the police, he argued.

Alternatively, he said, they might have obtained confidential information from the investigation, including material from the case diary, and disclosed it publicly.

He also asked the SIT to establish whether the accusations were baseless.

The petition urged investigators to summon the Chief Minister and both ministers, record their statements and obtain any documents or other material supporting their claims. It asked why any relevant evidence had not already been handed over to the investigating officers, and whether confidential records had been accessed or revealed without authorisation.

It also sought an account of how the leaders obtained the information they cited publicly.

Baalu urged the SIT to collect evidence promptly and prevent its concealment or destruction. He called for action under applicable provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita if the inquiry finds that information was withheld, investigative material was improperly disclosed, or accusations were deliberately false.

The DMK said anyone involved in the alleged offences must face the law, regardless of their position, and that an independent inquiry into the public claims would strengthen confidence in the SIT’s investigation.

–IANS

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