Ghee adulteration at TTD: SIT questions former EO Dharma Reddy

Tirumala: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of CBI, probing the ghee adulteration case at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) on Tuesday, questioned former TTD EO Dharma Reddy, who held the post during the previous government’s tenure.

He appeared before the SIT office in Tirupati for inquiry. Investigation by the SIT probing the ghee adulteration case under the supervision of CBI found that TTD received 68 lakh kg of ghee worth Rs 250 crore for over five years.

Allegations suggest that large-scale ghee adulteration occurred while he was in office. Investigators are questioning him on multiple aspects.

SIT has also issued notices to former TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy for questioning on November 13. He said that he would attend for questioning after November 15.

What is the case about?

According to the investigators, TTD received 68 lakh kg of ghee worth Rs 250 for over five years from 2019–2024. Recently, SIT has arrested Delhi-based chemical trader Ajay Kumar Sugandha, named A-16 in the case, who was accused of supplying chemicals used for preparing adulterated ghee linked to the Bhole Baba Dairy network. He disclosed major details of the ghee supply.

The controversy started in September 2024 when Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the TTD laddus were adulterated with animal fat under the previous regime. An SIT was then formed under direction from the court, and began examining procurement records, supply chains and quality-testing methods for the ghee used by TTD.

The investigation into the ghee adulteration so far

What are the major findings:

1. Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, Directors of Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk Private Limited, without procuring the milk, prepared the adulterated ghee at their plant at Bhagwanpur, near Roorkee, Uttarakhand, by mixing the adulterants like Palm oil, Palm Kernel Oil and Palmolein

2. The dairy in Uttarakhand never procured a drop of milk or butter from anywhere but managed to supply 68 lakh kg of ghee worth Rs 250 crore to the TTD.

3. As part of conspiracy, Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain supplied the said adulterated ghee to the TTD through their company Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk Private Limited and also through Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialties Pvt. Ltd., near Srikalahasti, Malganga Milk and Agro Products Private Limited, near Pune and AR Dairy Food Private Ltd, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, was used for the preparation of sacred prasadams of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy, which hurt the religious sentiments of crores of devotees.

4. The CBI probe stated that four containers of ghee stocks adulterated with animal fat allegedly supplied by AR dairy and subsequently rejected by the TTD in July last year were supplied back to the Tirupati trust.

5. The rejected four ghee tankers never returned to the AR dairy plant but were diverted to a local stone crushing unit located close to the Vyshnavi dairy plant.