The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested four individuals over the alleged adulteration of the sacred Tirumala temple laddu.
The arrested individuals are associated with organizations that supplied ghee, including AR Dairy (Tamil Nadu), Parag Dairy (Uttar Pradesh), Premier Agri Foods, and Alpha Milk Foods. Those arrested are Bipin Jain and Pomil Jain, former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy (Roorkee, Uttarakhand); Vaishnavi Dairy (Poonambakkam) CEO Apoorva Vinay Kant Chawda; and AR Dairy (Dundigal) MD Raju Rajasekharan.
The accused were interrogated for three days in Tirupati but were found to be uncooperative despite primary evidence of their involvement.
The SIT conducted inspections at Tirumala, Tirupati, and AR Dairy’s facility in Tamil Nadu. Investigations revealed that AR Dairy, which had a contract with Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), was guilty of multiple irregularities.
According to an official release, representatives of Vaishnavi Dairy secured tenders under the name of AR Dairy for ghee supply. They allegedly fabricated false documents and seals, misusing the AR Dairy name to manipulate the tender process.
Vaishnavi Dairy also created fake records claiming to have sourced ghee from Bhole Baba Dairy in Roorkee. However, authorities found that Bhole Baba Dairy lacked the capacity to supply such large quantities of ghee.
The SIT comprises Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Hyderabad Division Joint Director Viresh Prabhu, Visakha CBI SP Muraliramba, DIG Gopinath Jetty, IG Sarvashrestha Tripathi, and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officer Satyakumar Panda.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had alleged on September 18 that the ghee used for making Tirupati laddus during the YSR Congress Party’s rule was adulterated with animal fat, triggering outrage among devotees of the famous temple.
The state government initially constituted a SIT to probe the allegations. However, the Supreme Court later replaced it with a SIT comprising both central and state officials.
TTD uses 15,000 kg of cow ghee daily for preparing Tirumala laddus.
According to officials, AR Foods from Tamil Nadu had secured a tender to supply ghee at ₹320 per kg. On July 8, 2024, eight tankers of ghee arrived, and four of them were sent to laboratories for testing.
On July 17, NDDB Lab reports confirmed the presence of adulterants in the ghee.
-IANS
