A Rs 50 lakh money trail has been unearthed in connection with adulterated ghee supplied to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam to make the Srivari laddu, the devotional offering distributed to the lakhs of pilgrims, worshippers, and tourists who visit the famous temple every year.
Sources said K Chinnappanna, the personal assistant to YV Subba Reddy, a Lok Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSR Congress Party and a former TTD Chairman, allegedly received that sum – in cash – from hawala agents linked to Uttar Pradesh-based Premier Agri Foods Pvt Ltd.
Specifically, Chinnappanna allegedly received Rs 20 lakh from Aman Gupta, a Delhi-based agent, and the rest from Premier Agri Foods senior executive Vijay Gupta.
Both transactions were made near Delhi’s Patel Nagar Metro Station, sources said.
Last year a massive political (and legal and socio-cultural) row erupted after allegations the world-famous Tirupati laddus were made with ‘impure’ ghee, i.e., ghee made with animal fats.
The matter reached the Supreme Court, which downplayed politicians expressing ‘anguish’ over the controversy – the reference was to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s public statements – stating firmly that politics and religion should not be mixed. The court, however, ordered a joint investigation – with officers drawn from the CBI, the state police force, and food safety officials.
The team’s report outlined several instances in which the four dairies supplying the ghee manipulated documents and prices to win tenders. Investigators found that 60.37 lakh kg of adulterated ghee, i.e., mixed with foreign particles, worth Rs 240.8 crore, reached the TTD.
Specifically, Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt Ltd allegedly mixed palm oils and chemicals to make adulterated ghee at their plant in Roorke, some of which was routed to the temple via three others – Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities suppled tainted ghee worth Rs 133.12 crore, Malganga Milk & Agro Products Rs 73.18 crore,a nd AR Dairy Foods Rs 1.61 crore.
It was also indicated that despite the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute’s 2022 report confirming adulteration, supply continued till 2024.
This raised serious questions about official complicity and negligence, sources said.
Chandrababu Naidu publicly claimed that ghee adulterated with animal fat had bene used in making laddus during the previous administration, i.e., when Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSCRP was in power.
This scandal broke last year after the Andhra Pradesh government raised a report from a Gujarat lab that said samples of the ghee bought from a supplier in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul – later confirmed as AR Dairy – contained traces of fish oil, beef tallow, and lard, which is animal fat.
The lab’s report also added a disclaimer about “false positives”.
The kitchen at the Tirupati temple makes around three lakh laddoos daily, with around 1,500 kg of ghee and vast amounts of cashew nuts, raisins, cardamoms, gram flour, and sugar used.