A special investigation team led by the CBI has arrested four people in connection with the adulteration of the famous Tirupati laddus offered as prasadam to devotees at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, officials said. Those arrested have been identified as Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Apoorva Vinay Kant Chawda from Vaishnavi Dairy and Raju Rajasekharan from AR Dairy, they said. A Tirupati court on Monday sent the four accused arrested to judicial custody till February 20
“Four people have been arrested. Two persons (Bipin Jain and Pomi Jain) were of Bhole Baba Dairy, Apoorva Chawda of Vaihsnavi Dairy and (Raju) Rajasekharan of AR Dairy,†said a CBI official on Sunday late night, adding that the SIT probe has revealed serious violations at every step of ghee supply, leading to the arrests.
The arrested persons Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain are former Directors of Bhole Baba Diary from Roorkee in Uttarakhand, Apoorva Vinay Kant Chawda is CEO of Vishnavi Diary in Chennai and Raju Rajasekharan, Managing Director of AR Diary in Chennai. Vaishnavi Diary secured tenders under the name of AR Diary to supply ghee to the temple and fake records were created to to manipulate the tendering process. Vaishnavi Diary falsely claimed that it sourced ghee from Bhole Baba Diary, which lacked the capacity to meet Tirupati Temple’s demand, said CBI officials.
On the orders of the Supreme Court, the CBI set up a five-member SIT in November last year to investigate the allegations of the use of animal fat in making Tirupati laddus. The team comprised two officers from CBI, two from Andhra Pradesh Police and one from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).In its October 4 order, the top court, after hearing the petitions by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy, who wa also former Chairman of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Board said the probe into the allegation of using animal fat in making the laddu would be conducted by the SIT and will be supervised by the CBI Director.
Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu in September claimed that animal fat was used in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led regime in the State, triggering a massive political row. The allegations sparked a massive controversy across the country.
Following the allegations, in September last year the country’s food safety regulator issued a show cause notice to Tamil Nadu-based AR Dairy for allegedly supplying substandard ghee to temple authority. While the firm denied any adulteration, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) in its complaint said that a NDDB lab report had confirmed traces of animal fat in the ghee that was supposed to be used in making Laddu prasadam.
The court intervened following petitions by BJP leader Subramaniya Swamy and YSR Congress MP YV Subba Reddy, who demanded accountability in the revered temple’s prasadam process.
According to the CBI’s findings, the adulteration scheme was allegedly orchestrated through fraudulent supply contracts.
Vaishnavi Dairy, played a key role in securing tenders for supplying ghee to the TTD, the temple trust responsible for the laddoo’s preparation. The TTD, which manages the temple, uses around 15,000 litres of ghee daily for laddoo preparation. AR Foods from Tamil Nadu had won a tender to supply ghee at Rs 320 per kg.
Authorities emphasised that the investigation remains ongoing, with efforts to trace accountability across the supply chain.
