Tirumala laddu row | CBI-led SIT concludes probe, submits chargesheet in adulteration case; 36 accused named

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by the CBI, has wrapped up its probe into the alleged adulteration of ghee used in Tirumala Srivari laddus. The team filed its final charge-sheet in the Nellore ACB Court on Friday after a 15-month investigation spanning 12 states.

Directors of Uttar Pradesh-based Bhole Baba Organic Dairy, Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, surfaced as the main orchestrators of the organised adulteration. Originally traced to Tamil Nadu, the racket involved chemical adulteration and suspicious fund flows from temple sources.

The charge sheet lists 36 accused, 24 named initially and 12 more identified later. All have been arrested, with three still in judicial custody without bail.

Senior TTD officials, including two ex-General Managers from procurement and marketing, face charges alongside staffers now held in Nellore Central Jail. Key figures like former TTD Chairman's aide Chinna Appanna and Ajay Kumar Suigandh remain behind bars.

Findings highlight major failures in ghee quality checks, with private dairies bypassing TTD standards. Several arrested dairy owners gained conditional bail but must attending the ongoing inquiries. In a shocking revelation, the SIT has found that between 2019 and 2024, suppliers manufactured ghee without procuring any milk.

Sources said that Pomil and Vipin Jain, directors of M/s Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Private Limited, who were arrested by the CBI in February, produced adulterated ghee at their plant in Bhagwanpur, near Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

The probe found that instead of pure cow ghee, the accused used adulterants such as palm oil, palm kernel oil, and palmolein, sourced from Budge Budge Co. Ltd., Kolkata. These oils were blended with a small quantity of genuine ghee and mixed with chemicals, including beta-carotene, acetic acid ester, and synthetic ghee flavor, to pass laboratory tests while retaining the product’s aroma. The SIT submitted these findings to a local Andhra Pradesh court in a remand report following the recent arrest of one of the accused.

The Supreme Court, in October 2024, constituted an independent SIT under the supervision of the CBI Director to probe the allegations after the issue triggered a major political controversy. The five-member SIT comprises two CBI officials, two from the Andhra Pradesh government, and one from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The controversy erupted after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in 2024, made public laboratory reports indicating the presence of foreign fats, including traces of animal fat, in the ghee.