Chennai Police have said their inquiry indicates that Shanti, described as a close friend of “Gem Granites” Veeramani, allegedly extorted money by threatening to make explicit videos public.
According to investigators, Veeramani had placed significant trust in Shanti and had arranged a rented luxury bungalow for her and her husband, Mahendra Simhan, in Teynampet. Police also alleged that Shanti used her access to Veeramani to facilitate abuse under the guise of offering educational assistance.
Officials said the alleged payments continued for a period, but when Veeramani stopped giving money, Shanti allegedly escalated the pressure by warning that she possessed compromising videos and would release them.
Police further stated that the dispute pushed Veeramani into selling a plot of land on Chennai’s ECR, valued at around Rs 100 crore, for about Rs 70 crore. They said a lawyer linked to the land matter spoke to Shanti seeking her withdrawal from the issue.
Investigators added that Veeramani is said to have sought help from Tamil Nadu Congress functionary Ranjan Kumar and Tamil Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader John Pandian. Police said they are examining whether money changed hands to suppress the matter and whether a southern district political figure played any role in supporting Veeramani.
