TTD ghee adulteration row: SIT remand report says dairies used palm oil, chemicals

Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the controversial Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case has made yet another arrest, a Delhi man who supplied chemicals to a dairy in Uttarakhand which allegedly used them to adulterate ghee used in making the laddu prasadam in the Venkateswara temple. 

Ajay Kumar Sugandh, who runs Sugandh Oils and Chemicals in Delhi, was arrested on November 7. However, his remand report, that TNM has a copy of, only mentions the use of chemicals and vegetable oils used for making the adulterated ghee in question. 

The report says that Bhole Baba Dairy used palm oil, palm kernel oil, palmolein, a minimal quantity of ghee, and chemicals such as beta-carotene, acetic acid ester, and ghee flavour. The remand report doesn’t mention the presence of animal fats such as beef tallow, a controversial accusation made by the ruling coalition of TDP, Jana Sena Party and BJP earlier.  

The Supreme Court-appointed SIT, led by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), found that Bhole Baba Dairy based in Uttarakhand supplied nearly 60 lakh kg of adulterated ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) at the cost of Rs 240 crore between 2019 and 2024. This was done partly by routing their adulterated ghee through other suppliers to TTD including Vyshnavi Dairy near Srikalahasti,and AR Dairy in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, the SIT has found. 

The SIT submitted the remand report for Ajay Kumar Sugandh, who is accused number 16 in the case, on November 7, 2025 in the Nellore ACB court. Ajay is accused of supplying chemicals such as acetic acid ester and monoglycerides to former directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Pomil and Vipin Jain, by raising invoices in the name of coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil.

“The said deliberate and malicious acts on the part of accused persons caused deeply hurt to the religious sentiments of crores of devotees of Lord Shri Venkateswara Swamy,” the remand report states. 

The Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case turned into a nationwide controversy in 2024, after lab reports of ghee samples tested from one of the accused parties – AR Dairy – showed beef tallow and lard as two of several possible impurities including coconut, sunflower, and olive oils. Experts had said at the time that the reports do not conclusively establish the presence of animal fats in the ghee samples. 

The ghee supplied by AR Dairy allegedly came from Bhole Baba Dairy. 

The accused in the case include directors of AR Dairy, Vyshnavi Dairy, Bhole Baba Dairy and other firms. 

The SIT said their investigation revealed that the accused colluded to submit false documents to get ghee supply contracts with TTD, quoting unviably low rates in their tenders. 

According to the SIT, Pomil and Vipin Jain of Bhole Baba Dairy never even procured milk or ghee but showed false documents to claim they did, and sold some of the adulterated ‘ghee’ to Vyshanavi Dairy which also supplied ghee to TTD from 2022-25. This was used in preparing the laddus. 

The SIT said that during the course of examination, Ajay Kumar Sugandh was “neither cooperating nor disclosing the true facts”. 

Jana Sena Party chief and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan had led the charge against the YSRCP government accusing them of allowing animal fats to be used in the Tirupati laddus. Following the SIT’s findings, he once again called for the establishment of a Sanatana Dharma Protection Board to protect the Hindu faith. 

TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, too, claimed that the SIT “exposed the truth”, and that the adulteration was “a deliberate assault on the faith of Hindus, and a crime against the soul of Bharat.”

However, the YSRCP has questioned the ruling coalition for creating fear and panic among devotees by alleging the presence of animal fats without clear evidence. YSRCP spokesperson Ambati Rambabu alleged that the TDP was restarting “the same toxic campaign” again, this time based on “monodiglycerides and acetic acid esters.” 

When asked about the absence of any conclusive evidence of animal fat presence in the latest remand report, TDP spokesperson Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy told TNM that the coalition government was concerned about adulteration in any form, and not the nature of the adulterants in particular. 

“CM Naidu and the state government are concerned about the adulteration of ghee which was proven in 2022 and the YSRCP failing to act on it. It is obvious that the previous YSRCP-led government brokered a deal with the Bhole Baba Dairy for kickbacks. This was done with full knowledge of the YSRCP and as such is unforgivable,” he said. 

Pattabhi also alleged that former TTD chairman and YSRCP MP YV Subba Reddy received kickbacks from the Bhole Baba Dairy. 

The SIT had also found that when Subba Reddy was the TTD chairman in 2022, an anonymous complaint was received against Bhole Baba Dairy. 

Although samples of Bhole Baba, Vyshnavi, and others showed adulteration with vegetable fats, no action was taken and the supply contracts continued till 2024, according to the SIT. 

Subba Reddy is also former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle. His former personal assistant Chinna Appanna was arrested by the SIT in October, for allegedly receiving bribes from TTD’s ghee suppliers to the tune of Rs 50 lakh. 

The SIT said that in 2022, Bhole Baba’s former director Pomil Jain even complained to Subba Reddy about his PA’s demand for bribes and requested not to conduct any inspection of their plant for a year. 

YSRCP has insisted that Subba Reddy blacklisted Bhole Baba Dairy once the adulteration came to light.