Adulteration scandal in Tirupati Temple’s sacred laddu Offering

Mumbai – A massive adulteration scam has rocked the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), where over 6.8 crore kilograms of spurious ghee were allegedly supplied over the last five years for preparing the temple’s sacred laddu prasadam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted its detailed probe report in court, revealing large-scale fraud worth over ₹275 crore.

The investigation by the CBI’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has uncovered that a dairy based in Uttarakhand supplied fake ghee to the TTD between 2019 and 2024.

The revelations surfaced in the remand report submitted to the Nellore court following the arrest of Ajay Kumar Sugandh, a chemical supplier involved in the adulteration racket.

The accused, Pomeel Jain and Vipin Jain, are the proprietors of Bhole Baba Organic Dairy located in Bhagwanpur, Uttarakhand. The CBI investigation revealed that the dairy neither procured milk nor genuine ghee during the five years, yet supplied 68 million kilograms of adulterated ghee to the Tirupati temple.

Even after the TTD blacklisted Bhole Baba Dairy in 2022, the accused continued their operations through other firms, including Vaishnavi Dairy, Mal Ganga, and A.R. Dairy Foods, continuing to channel fake ghee into the temple supply chain.

The CBI and the SIT are now conducting a thorough probe into all the firms and individuals linked to the massive adulteration network.