Tirupati laddu case: SIT arrests 4 dairy businessmen

A special investigation team led by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested four people in connection with the alleged adulteration of the famous Tirupati laddus offered as prasadam to devotees at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, officials said.

Those arrested have been identified as Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy (Roorkee, Uttarakhand), Apoorva Chawda from Vaishnavi Dairy (Poonambakkam), and Raju Rajasekharan from AR Dairy (Dindigul), they said.

Also Read: SIT initiates probe into Tirupati laddu adulteration allegations

"Four people have been arrested. Two persons (Bipin Jain and Pomil Jain) were of Bhole Baba Dairy, Apoorva Chawda of Vaishnavi Dairy and (Raju) Rajasekharan of AR Dairy," an official told PTI late on Sunday night February 9).

According to sources, the SIT probe has revealed serious violations at every step of ghee supply, leading to the arrests.

Tender process manipulated

They claimed that Vaishnavi Dairy officials secured tenders under the name of AR Dairy to supply ghee to the temple and were also involved in creating fake records to manipulate the tender process.

The SIT unearthed that Vaishnavi Dairy had falsely claimed that it sourced ghee from Bhole Baba Dairy while the authorities noticed that the latter did not possess the capacity to meet the temple board Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam's demand, sources said.

SIT probe

On the orders of the Supreme Court, the CBI set up a five-member SIT in November last year to investigate the allegations of the use of animal fat in making Tirupati laddus.

The team comprised two officers from the central agency, two from Andhra Pradesh Police, and one from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), they said.

In its October 4 order, the apex court, after hearing the petitions by BJP leader Subramaniya Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy, among others, said the probe into the allegation of using animal fat in making the laddu would be conducted by the SIT and would be supervised by the CBI director.

Also Read: Chandrababu Naidu's Laddu attack way off mark, backfired spectacularly

The probe is being led by the CBI Hyderabad Division Joint Director Viresh Prabhu, and the rest of the team comprises Visakha CBI SP Muraliramba, DIG Gopinath Jetty, IG Sarvashrestha Tripathi, and FSSAI officer Satyakumar Panda, according to sources in the Telugu Desam Party.

Inspections were carried out at several locations including Tirupati, Tirumala, and AR Dairy’s factory in Dindigul.

Naidu’s allegation

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu in September claimed that animal fat was used in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led regime in the state, triggering a massive political row.

Also Read: Tirupati laddu row | SC says keep Gods out of politics, questions Andhra CM's claim

During an NDA legislative party meeting in the southern state in 2024, Naidu alleged that the erstwhile YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats to make the laddus.

The allegations sparked a massive controversy across the country.

(With agency inputs)