In a significant development in the Tirupati Laddu case, a remand report submitted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has revealed that Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Pvt Ltd, a company previously disqualified and blacklisted from the tender process, supplied adulterated ghee to the Lord Venkateswara Temple through its proxies: Vaishnavi Dairy and AR Dairy.
The 14-page remand report indicates that the four people arrested in connection with the case conspired to establish proxy companies. They used forged documents, including false certifications related to food safety standards and the production process, to unlawfully secure tenders.Â
The remand report was filed on Sunday against four people: Pomil Jain and Bipin Jain, former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy in Roorkee; Apurva Vinay Kant Chawda, CEO of Vaishnavi Dairy in Poonambakkam; and Raju Rajasekharan, Managing Director of AR Dairy in Dindigul, as reported by The Indian Express.
The report highlights that Bhole Baba Dairy supplied ghee to the TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) at Rs 291 per kg in 2019. This supply continued until 2022 when the TTD inspected the dairy’s facilities. Following the inspection, it was determined that the manufacturing practices at Bhole Baba Dairy were “unsatisfactory,” which led to the dairy’s disqualification from the tendering process.
The claims that the ghee used to make the world-famous Tirupati laddu contained animal fat erupted into a major controversy last year. The matter reached the Supreme Court of India and sparked a religious and political row.
The issue was raised by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, claiming that the YSRCP government used animal fat and substandard ingredients in making Tirupati laddu, which is served as ‘prasad’ at the famous Sri Venkateswara temple. The prasadam at Tirumala is offered to crores of followers visiting the Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple.
The top court stated that “religion and politics cannot be allowed to mix” but directed the federal agency to conduct a thorough investigation, with assistance from Andhra Pradesh Police and a senior official from the central government-run Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
