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Eight months after the CBI constituted SIT ruled out the presence of animal fat in the Tirumala ghee adulteration case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, September 18 named six adulterants and various other chemicals which were used to adulterate ghee. The ED mad no mention of animal fats being an adulterant.
In a press note issued by the ED, the probe agency stated that it had arrested Kailash Chand Mangla, promoter of Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd, in connection with the alleged adulteration and fraudulent supply of ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). As part of its probe, ED also said that adulterated ghee was allegedly manufactured using ‘refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, palmolein, and various chemicals including MG-90, monoglycerides, Myvacet soft 400, and Acetic Acid Esther.”
In September 2024, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and Human Resource Development minister Nara Lokesh had claimed that lab reports showed the ghee used to prepare the Tirupati laddus during the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government contained animal fat, including beef tallow and fish oil. This allegation triggered widespread media coverage amid accusations of hurt religious sentiments.
The product was allegedly passed off as “Agmark Special Grade cow ghee” and supplied to the TTD for preparing the Tirumala laddu prasadam. The agency has estimated the value of the ghee supplied between 2019 and 2024 at around Rs 230 crore. Of this, ghee worth approximately Rs 96 crore was allegedly manufactured by Mangla, the ED said.
Mangla was arrested by the ED’s Hyderabad zonal office on Thursday, September 17, under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. He was subsequently produced before the PMLA Special Court in Visakhapatnam, which remanded him to judicial custody.
Mangla has been accused of facilitating the procurement of adulterants and manufacturing the product at his factory premises. The ED has also alleged that he helped coordinate supplies through several entities, including Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt. Ltd., Malganga Milk & Agro Products Pvt. Ltd. and A.R. Dairy Foods Pvt. Ltd.
The case stems from an FIR registered at Tirupati East police station over allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption in the procurement and supply of ghee to the TTD. The ED took up the money-laundering investigation based on the predicate offence.
By January 2026, the CBI-led SIT filed a chargesheet stating that no animal fat was found in significant or intended quantities. Instead, the scandal was a large-scale synthetic ghee and financial fraud.
A chargesheet filed by the CBI-led Special Investigation Team (SIT) has described the adulteration as primarily involving palm oil and/or palm stearin mixed with palm kernel oil. The SIT's findings also said laboratory testing did not establish the presence of animal fat in the samples examined.