Tirupati laddu row: How blacklisted dairies sealed ghee deal

The four men arrested in the Tirupati laddu row — on charges the ghee they supplied contained animal fats — “hatched a conspiracy” to sell from companies blacklisted for supplying adulterated products, according to a remand report accessed by NDTV.

In the 14-page report, Tirupati Police said the investigation so far suggests these four men conspired to set up proxy companies and provided false documents, including those testifying about food safety standards and even the actual production process, to illegally win tenders.

The remand report outlines how the accused — Pomil Jai and Vipin Jain, Directors of Bhole Baba Dairy and Vyshnavi Dairy; Apurva Chavda, CEO of Vyshnavi Dairy; and R Rajasekaran, Managing Director of AR Dairy — manipulated tender documents. They submitted fabricated reports to meet food safety standards and overstated their ability to supply the required quantities of ghee and milk fat.

One example involved AR Dairy, which falsely claimed it could supply six tonnes of cow milk fat per day to meet the requirements of the Tirupati laddu kitchen. However, investigations revealed their actual production capacity was far less, with discrepancies in both their milk procurement and ghee production figures.

The remand report also claims that AR Dairy altered ghee seals and forged documents to pass off ghee from Vyshnavi Dairy as their own. Additionally, the companies manipulated ghee prices in tenders and fabricated milk procurement figures, with AR Dairy submitting false data about the amount of milk it procured daily.

This fraudulent network continued despite multiple dairies being blacklisted due to poor quality and safety concerns.

In the case of Bhole Baba Dairy, a previous ghee supply failed internal quality control tests, leading to their disqualification from supplying the Tirupati laddus.

Nonetheless, the conspirators circumvented these bans by using proxy companies and forged documentation.

The Tirupati temple kitchen produces 300,000 laddus daily, using large amounts of ghee. The scandal raises serious concerns about the integrity of food safety and the religious impact of such adulteration.

This investigation is ongoing, and the four accused face severe charges, including food fraud, conspiracy, and document forgery. The case continues to unfold, as authorities work to uncover the full extent of this shocking scandal that has rocked Andhra Pradesh.