Sixty-eight lakh kilograms of adulterated ghee procured over three years was used to produce one of the holiest prasadam [offerings] in the country—the Tirupati laddoos. A 15-month-long investigation by
a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has exposed what it has called “one of the biggest procurement scams in Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam”.
The five-member SIT submitted its chargesheet in Nellore’s ACB court against 36 people on Friday. CNN-News18 had reported on Thursday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-led SIT had completed its probe in the Tirupati ladoo case and found massive adulteration. As reported by CNN-News18, the SIT has not found evidence to support the charge that animal fat was used in the prasadam.
Political parties had alleged that beef tallow and pig fat were used to contaminate the ladoos, triggering a massive outrage and an in-depth investigation.
Uttarakhand-based Bhole Baba Dairy has been named as the primary accused in the chargesheet. Its directors Pomil and Vipin Jain allegedly entered a conspiracy with TTD procurement staff and external dairy experts—Vijay Shekhar Reddy—to execute a scam worth Rs 250 crore by providing ghee that had 80 per cent chemicals.
Delhi-based chemicals supplier Ajay Kumar Sugandh, Chinna Appanna, and former TTD procurement general manager RSSVR Subrahmanyam are some others named in the chargesheet. The original complainant in the case—Pralaya Kaveri Murali Krishna, retired TTD general manager (procurement)—has also been named as an accused.
Seven others who worked in the TTD procurement department have also been named by the SIT, including Chinna Appanna, personal assistant to former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy. Reddy, a YSRCP MP, himself has not been named though he was questioned earlier.
Two other suppliers—Apoorva Vinayakant Chawda, CEO of Vaishnavi Dairy, and R Rajasekharan, MD of AR Dairy—have also been found involved in the conspiracy to adulterate ghee.
The Supreme Court had ordered a CBI-SIT probe into the case in October 2024. The SIT comprised officials from the CBI, Andhra Pradesh Police and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, supported by a local police team led by the Tirupati additional superintendent of police. The investigation spanned 12 states and meticulously traced the supply chain, procurement records, lab reports and financial flows tied to the TTD ghee contracts.
