TTD ghee adulteration case: Former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy’s close aide arrested

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An arrest was made in the controversial Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday, October 29. The accused arrested is Chinna Appanna, a close aide and former personal assistant of YV Subba Reddy, the former chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board. One of the seven Rajya Sabha MPs from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Subba Reddy is also party chief and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle.

Chinna Appanna is accused number 24 in the Tirupati ghee adulteration case. The SIT, led by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is investigating allegations of adulteration in the ghee supplied for preparing the laddus at the Tirumala Venkateswara temple, one of the richest and most visited Hindu temples in the world. 

Appanna is reportedly accused of receiving bribes from TTD’s ghee suppliers to the tune of Rs 50 lakh. He was arrested in Alipiri near Tirumala and was produced before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Nellore. He has been sent to judicial remand till November 11. 

The SIT reportedly found that Appanna allegedly contacted TTD’s ghee suppliers and demanded a commission of Rs 25 per kilogram of ghee. He allegedly took ghee suppliers’ details from the general manager of TTD’s procurement wing. 

When one of the suppliers, Bhole Baba Dairy in Roorkee, refused to pay him a commission, he allegedly sent anonymous complaints against them to TTD to have their plant inspected and disqualified. 

Two former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Pomil Jain and Bipin Jain, were arrested by the SIT in February 2025. It was alleged that fake records were created claiming that ghee was sourced from Bhole Baba Dairy, but their plant actually lacked the capacity to supply the required quantity. They allegedly supplied ghee through proxy dairies. 

After Bhole Baba was eliminated from the tenders, Premier Agri Foods received the contract at a price of Rs 467 per kg, Rs 138 higher than Bhole Baba. Appanna is suspected to have played a role in this too. 

The SIT also found that in 2022, then TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy got the ghee samples from all suppliers including Bhole Baba and Premier Agri tested at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru. Although the reports showed adulteration with vegetable fats, no action was taken and the supply contracts continued till 2024, according to the SIT. 

TTD uses approximately 15,000 kg of ghee daily for preparing Tirupati laddus.

A major political row erupted in 2024 over the Tirupati laddus after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), came to power in Andhra Pradesh. After finding adulteration in four samples of ghee supplied to TTD, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan and others in the ruling coalition alleged that the ghee being used at the Hindu pilgrimage site was being adulterated with beef tallow and other substances. 

However, the lab reports had shown beef tallow and lard as two of several possible impurities including coconut, sunflower, and olive oils. Experts had said that the reports do not conclusively establish the presence of animal fats in the ghee samples. 

Amid the controversy, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and YSRCP leader YV Subba Reddy had filed petitions in the Supreme Court demanding a thorough investigation. The Supreme Court instructed the CBI to investigate the allegations under the direct supervision of the CBI Director.