A CBI-led special investigation team arrested four persons in connection with the alleged adulteration of the popular Tirupati laddus offered as ‘prasadam’ to devotees at Andhra Pradesh’s Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple.
The arrested persons include, former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy – Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain – Vaishnavi Dairy’s Apoorva Chawda and AR Dairy’s Raju Rajasekharan, according to a news agency PTI report.
“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 was quoted as saying.
SIT probe into Tirupati laddu adulteration
As per sources, the SIT investigation revealed serious violations at every step of the ghee supply, which ultimately led them to make these arrests.
Officials claimed that the people with Vaishnavi Dairy had secured tenders under AR Dairy’s name to supply ghee to the famous temple and were involved in faking records to manipulate the tender process.
In its investigation, the SIT led by the Central Bureau of Investigation, discovered that Vaishnavi Dairy had made false claims about sourcing ghee from Bhole Baba Dairy as investigators noticed that the latter did not have the capacity to meet the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board’s demand.
Notably, the federal investigating agency had set up a five-member SIT in November last year in accordance to the orders of the Supreme Court. The team comprised two officers from CBI, two from Andhra Pradesh Police and one from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The team had set out to probe whether the Tirupati laddus were made with animal fat.
The apex court, in its order dated October 4, had heard petitions filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy among others. The top court had said that the investigation into the allegation of animal fat usage in Tirupati laddus would be run by the SIT and CBI director would oversee it.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had in September claimed that animal fat was used in Tirupati laddus during the previous regime under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the state, sparking a major controversy within the state.
During an NDA legislative party meeting, Naidu had alleged that the YSRCP administration did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple, using substandard ingredients and animal fats to make the laddus.
(with PTI inputs)
