In Tirupati laddu row, probe reveals 'conspiracy' to sell ghee from blacklisted dairies: Report
Four men arrested in Tirupati ghee row sold ghee from dairies blacklisted earlier by TTD for supplying adulterated products; they manipulated documents, prices
In the Tirupati laddu controversy that eventually led to Supreme Court ordering a special investigation, a police remand report has revealed a 'conspiracy' was hatched to to sell adulterated products from blacklisted diaries, to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
According to a report in NDTV, the four men arrested for supplying ghee which had animal fats, had 'hatched a conspiracy' to sell from companies that had been banned earlier by TTD for supplying adulterated products.
Proxy companies, false documents
The four dairies currently being investigated also 'manipulated documents and prices' to win tenders.
NDTV was quoting from a 14-page report, in which Tirupati Police had said the investigation until now suggests that these four men conspired to set up proxy companies and submitted false documents. These documents testified to their food safety standards and even the actual production process so that they could win the tenders.
The four men arrested by the police investigating this scam are Pomil Jai and Vipin Jain, directors of Bhole Baba Dairy and Vyshnavi Dairy; Apurva Chavda, CEO of Vyshnavi Dairy; and R Rajasekaran, managing director of AR Dairy.
A major scandal broke out when a lab report from Gujarat showed that the ghee used in the sacred Tirupati laddus contained animal fats. The matter reached the Supreme Court, who noting that religion and politics cannot be allowed to mix, however, ordered a special investigation team to probe the adulteration allegations along with the Andhra Pradesh Police and a senior official from central government-run Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
Also read: Tirupati laddu row: 4 arrested for adulteration sent to 10-day judicial custody
Fudging figures
Citing an example of how they manipulated figures, the report said that AR Dairy had claimed they could supply six tonnes of cow milk fat per day from dairies within 1,500 km of Tirupati, as required by the tender.
However, the SIT found that AR Dairy had "submitted false and fabricated documents" and this was done in "collusion and in conspiracy with others". Butter, ghee, and milk production figures for earlier years were tweaked so that they could show that they could meet the future targets.They also allegedly fudged figures about the quantity of milk they procured daily.
Further, the remand report flagged how AR Dairy actually obtained their ghee from Vyshnavi Dairy via Bhole Baba Dairy and would remove their seals and affix their own seals and prepare the documents as if the ghee was manufactured by them.
The issue here being that Bhole Baba Dairy in 2022 had a problem since the ghee purchased from them under the 'national dairy' category, i.e., from dairies across India, "did not pass tests conducted by in-house lab".
Also read: SIT initiates probe into Tirupati laddu adulteration allegations
Disqualified, not eligible
A TTD had visited the dairy and noted lack of "good manufacturing practices". Bhole Baba Dairy then, like Vyshnavi Dairy, had been disqualified from supplying ghee to make Tirupati laddus.
It was also noted that Vyshnavi Dairy had participated in the ghee tender process "even though they are not eligible", as the CEO Apurva Chavda had earlier also given 'fabricated documents'.
Last year, the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government raised a report from a Gujarat lab that said ghee samples 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.
This triggered a political and religious controversy and also led to the intervention by the Supreme Court.
