Tirupati laddu case: AR Dairy inflated capacity to meet TTD's tender requirement, says SIT

AR Dairy, a Tamil Nadu-based firm that supplied ghee to TTD after winning the contract, inflated its capacity figures to meet the board's tender conditions for supplying the sweet, the SIT investigating the alleged adulteration of ghee used in making Tirupati laddus has stated.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the CBI on Sunday arrested four people in connection with the alleged adulteration of the famous Tirupati laddus, which are offered as prasadam (sacred offering) to devotees at the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple.

"It is submitted that the minimum procurement of milk per day should be 2 lakh litres. To meet the TTD tender requirement, Shri Rajasekharan (AR Dairy) signed and submitted a separate document with false milk procurement details. For the year 2022-23, the reported figure was 2.52 lakh litres per day, even though their actual average milk procurement was 1.45 lakh litres per day, as per documents seized during the investigation," the SIT remand report stated.

The investigation further revealed that an agreement regarding the supply of ghee was signed between Rajasekharan, Managing Director of AR Dairy, and the General Manager (Procurement) of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on June 11, 2024. Following this, TTD issued a supply order to AR Dairy.

Under the agreement, AR Dairy was responsible for preparing and supplying ghee to TTD.

However, the probe found that AR Dairy procured ghee from Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd, which in turn sourced it from Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Pvt Ltd before supplying it to TTD.

"Thus, AR Dairy, with dishonest intent, violated the conditions of the TTD tender agreement for wrongful gain," the report stated.

The SIT further revealed that TTD rejected and returned four tankers of ghee supplied by AR Dairy due to quality issues in July last year.

However, the rejected tankers were sent directly to Vyshnavi Dairy instead of being returned to AR Dairy.

The investigation also uncovered that two vehicle drivers were appointed as directors of Vyshnavi Dairy on September 1, 2024, following the resignation of Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, both of whom have been named as accused persons in the case.

In September, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that animal fat was used in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led regime, triggering a major political controversy. The opposition party had vehemently denied the allegations.

On orders from the Supreme Court, the CBI formed a five-member SIT in November last year to investigate allegations regarding the use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus.

The team comprises two officers from the CBI, two from Andhra Pradesh police, and one representative from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).