Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 10: A dairy firm based in Uttarakhand managed to supply 68 lakh kgs of fake ghee worth ₹250 crore to the famous Tirupati temple run by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and 2024, the CBI probe into the allegation of use of adulterated ghee with animal fat in preparing Laddu Prasadam of the temple has revealed.
The special investigation team (SIT) led by the CBI gathered these details after the arrest of one of the accused Ajay Kumar Sugandh. The SIT submitted these findings in a remand report submitted before the Nellore court.
The investigation is also learnt to have unearthed a Rs 50 lakh money trail in connection with adulterated ghee to make the Srivari laddu, the devotional offering distributed to the lakhs of pilgrims, worshippers, and tourists who visit the famous temple every year. Sources said K Chinnappanna, the personal assistant to YV Subba Reddy, a Lok Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh’s then ruling YSR Congress Party and a former TTD Chairman, allegedly received that sum – in cash – from hawala agents linked to Uttar Pradesh-based Premier Agri Foods Pvt Ltd.
A massive political, legal and religious controversy had erupted last year after allegations were levelled against the world-famous Tirupati temple of making laddus with ‘impure’ ghee, i.e., ghee made with animal fats. The matter had reached the Supreme Court, which downplayed politicians expressing ‘anguish’ over the controversy – the reference was to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s public statements – stating firmly that politics and religion should not be mixed. The court, however, ordered a joint investigation – with officers drawn from the CBI, the state police force, and food safety officials.
Report by the team said Sugandh had supplied chemicals including monodiglycerides and acetic acid ester to the Bhole Baba Organic dairy, which supplied ghee to the TTD. The CBI has said the promoters of the dairy, Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, had set up a fake desi ghee manufacturing unit. Both further forged milk procurement and payment records to fake their credibility.
The Bhole Baba Organic dairy was disqualified and blacklisted from supplying ghee in 2022. However, the dairy kept supplying ghee to the Tirupati temple trust by bidding for contracts through other dairies. These included the Vyshnavi dairy in Tirupati, UP-based Mal Ganga and Tamil Nadu-based AR Dairy Foods.
During this time, four containers of ghee stocks adulterated with animal fat were allegedly supplied through the AR Dairy to the TTD and eventually rejected by the trust. However, these came back to the TTD by Bhole Baba Dairy promoters through Vyshnavi dairy, the CBI probe revealed.
Officials from the FSSAI and SIT team inspected the AR Dairy plant based in Dindigul during the investigation. This led to the revelation that the four adulterated ghee tankers had never returned to the AR Dairy but were diverted to a local stone crushing unit near the Vyshnavi dairy plant. The Vyshnavi dairy in August 2024 changed the labels on these tankers, improved the quality and consistence of the adulterated ghee, and supplied the same ghee back to the TTD.
Investigation also revealed Chinnappanna allegedly received Rs 20 lakh from Aman Gupta, a Delhi-based agent, and the rest from Premier Agri Foods senior executive Vijay Gupta. Both transactions were made near Delhi’s Patel Nagar Metro Station, sources said.
The team’s report outlined several instances in which the four dairies supplying the ghee manipulated documents and prices to win tenders. Investigators found that 60.37 lakh kg of adulterated ghee, i.e., mixed with foreign particles, worth Rs 240.8 crore, reached the TTD.
Specifically, Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt Ltd allegedly mixed palm oils and chemicals to make adulterated ghee at their plant in Roorke, some of which was routed to the temple via three others – Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities supplied tainted ghee worth Rs 133.12 crore, Malganga Milk & Agro Products Rs 73.18 crore, and AR Dairy Foods Rs 1.61 crore.
It was also indicated that despite the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute’s 2022 report confirming adulteration, supply continued till 2024. This raised serious questions about official complicity and negligence, sources said.
Chandrababu Naidu publicly claimed that ghee adulterated with animal fat had been used in making laddus during the previous administration, i.e., when Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSCRP was in power. This scandal broke last year after the Andhra Pradesh government raised a report from a Gujarat lab that said samples of the ghee bought from a supplier in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul – later confirmed as AR Dairy – contained traces of fish oil, beef tallow, and lard, which is animal fat.
The kitchen at the Tirupati temple makes around three lakh laddu daily, with around 1,500 kg of ghee and vast amounts of cashew nuts, raisins, cardamoms, gram flour, and sugar used.