New Delhi, February 10
The CBI has arrested four people in connection with the Tirupati laddu adulteration case.
The accused were identified Pomil Jain and Bipin Jain, former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy in Roorkee; Apoorva Vinay Kant Chawda, CEO of Vaishnavi Dairy, Poonambakkam; and Raju Rajasekharan, the MD of AR Dairy, Dundigal.
A five-member team, including two officers from the CBI, two from the Andhra Pradesh government and one from the Food Safety Standards Authority of India, has been probing the case.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government had claimed last year that Tirupati’s Lord Venkateswara Temple’s prasadam, which is offered to believers in the form of laddu, was adulterated with animal fat, creating a countrywide uproar.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the temple, uses 15,000 litres of ghee for the preparation of laddus. AR Foods from Tamil Nadu secured a tender to supply the ghee at Rs 320 per kg. When eight tankers carrying the ghee arrived at TTD, four were sent to labs for testing adulteration.
The ghee was sent for testing on July 8, 2024. On July 17, NDDB lab reports confirmed adulteration, officials further said.
