Four people arrested in Andhra Pradesh Tirupati laddu case

Those arrested have been identified as Vipin Jain, Pomil Jain, Apoorva Chawda and Raju Rajasekharan, say officials

New Delhi: A special investigation team led by the CBI has arrested four people in connection with the alleged adulteration of the famous Tirupati laddus offered as prasad to devotees at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, officials said.

Those arrested have been identified as Vipin Jain, Pomil Jain, Apoorva Chawda and Raju Rajasekharan, they said.

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According to sources, the SIT probe has revealed serious violations at every step of ghee supply, leading to the arrests. They claimed that Vaishnavi Dairy officials secured tenders under the name of AR Dairy to supply ghee to the temple and were also involved in creating fake records to manipulate the tender process.

The SIT unearthed that Vaishnavi Dairy had falsely claimed that it sourced ghee from Bhole Baba Dairy while the authorities noticed that the latter did not possess the capacity to meet the temple board Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam’s demand, sources said.

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 the central agency, two from Andhra Pradesh Police and one from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), they said.

In its October 4 order, the apex court, after hearing the petitions by BJP leader Subramaniya Swamy and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP YV Subba Reddy, among others, 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 Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in September claimed that animal fat was used in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led regime in the state, triggering a massive political row.