Chennai, Sept. 28 -- A quiet bungalow in Chennai's upscale Alwarpet, marked only by a plaque reading 'VISHNU 266', has emerged as the centre of an alleged child sex racket in which jailed 84-year-old granite baron R Veeramani allegedly lured and sexually assaulted minor girls through a charitable foundation he had established for poor students. Police said Veeramani, chairman of the Gem Group of Companies, had leased the Alwarpet property and appointed Mahendra and Shanthi as caretakers. Veeramani had established a foundation to help underprivileged students, apparently to give them an opportunity for a better future. The foundation became the source from where, Shanthi, would zero in on potential targets. "The girls were allegedly taken to Veeramani, who offered them cash ranging from Rs.5,000 to Rs.50,000, smartphones and shoes," said a police officer, on condition of anonymity. Soon, Shanthi started extorting money from Veeramani in return for suppressing the videos of the assaults. "However, after an attempt to extract more money from Veeramani failed, Shanthi ensured the footage reached police through a social activist," the officer added. On October 6, 2025, an unidentified man left a pen drive and an envelope at the Anna Nagar office of ICWO, an NGO. The NGO then submitted the pen drive, containing a video of a man sexually assaulting a minor, to the Central Crime Branch's anti-vice squad. Police booked Veeramani under the Pocso Act a day later. However, the police sought to close the case in February, citing a lack of evidence. The special court rejected the closure report and ordered further probe. On August 29, the police said they had established the identity of the man in the video as Veeramani and arrested him with two associates. Earlier this month, police said they have traced the girl in the video and recorded statements from six more survivors. Police arrested a former employee for allegedly withholding evidence, and raided five premises linked to Veeramani. The police's all-woman SIT is examining an SMS allegedly sent by Shanthi to Veeramani in 2003, referring to a girl whom he allegedly assaulted and who later died by suicide....