Andhra CM Naidu welcomes Supreme Court's ruling on SIT to probe Tirupati laddu adulteration

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision on constituting an independent Special Investigation Team to conduct a probe into allegations of use of animal fat in making Tirupati laddus.

In a post on 'X', he said: "I welcome the Honourable Supreme Court’s order of setting up SIT, comprising officers from CBI, AP Police and FSSAI to investigate the issue of adulteration of Tirupati laddu."

Senior YSRCP leader and former minister R K Roja said the apex court’s direction is a welcoming development. It would be better if everyone refrained from making politically malicious comments on the matter of Srivari Prasadam, which is a sentiment to the devotees, she said in a social media post.

Earlier, TDP spokesperson Pattabhiram Kommareddy said the state government’s intention is to bring out the truth and punish culprits who played with the sentiments of crores of devotees of Lord Venkateswara Swamy.

"We welcome the Supreme Court’s direction. We don’t have any issue with it. Crores of Hindus across the globe are demanding to put those people (culprits) behind bars and give them stringent punishment because they have played with their sentiments," the TDP spokesperson told PTI.

The Supreme Court on Friday said the SIT will comprise two officials each from the CBI and the Andhra Pradesh Police besides a senior FSSAI official.

The bench said the probe by the SIT will be supervised by the CBI Director.

Pattabhiram hoped that the investigation by the SIT would be a time-bound one. He said now the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the official custodian of Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, is procuring pure cow ghee and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is going to set up a lab at Tirumala to check adulteration if any in the ingredients.

During a NDA meeting in the southern state last month, Chandrababu Naidu had alleged that the erstwhile YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats for making laddus, which are revered and sought after by crores of devotees.

The allegations sparked a massive controversy across the country, hurting the sentiments of crores of Hindus.

Inputs from PTI