A shocking case has shaken the faith of millions of devotees across the country. The CBI-supervised SIT investigation has revealed that fake and adulterated ghee was supplied to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) for preparing the world-famous Srivari laddus for over five years during the previous YS Jagan rule.
According to the report, an Uttarakhand-based company named Bhole Baba Organic Dairy supplied nearly 68 lakh kilograms of ghee worth around ₹250 crore between 2019 and 2024. But here’s the shocking part, the company had no record of buying milk or butter from anywhere during those years. The SIT found that the so-called ghee was made using palm oil, beta carotene for colour, ghee-flavoured essence for smell, and chemical emulsifiers to pass purity tests.
Even after being blacklisted in 2022, the same suppliers reportedly continued sending fake ghee to TTD through other companies with forged documents and fake bills. In one case, four tankers of rejected ghee were simply relabelled and sent back to Tirumala under new names.
The SIT, working under the supervision of the CBI, has already arrested several people, including a Delhi-based trader who supplied the chemical mix used to fool lab tests. More arrests are expected in the coming days as the investigation expands.
This revelation has become one of the biggest food frauds in India, not just because of the scale of corruption, but because it has affected something sacred. For millions of devotees, the Tirumala laddu is not just a sweet, but a divine offering. Now, the discovery that fake ingredients were used for years has created nationwide outrage.
This case has also turned into a major political setback for the previous YSRCP government, under whose rule these contracts were given. With top TTD officials also under investigation, questions are being raised about how such a massive scam continued unnoticed for so long.
The CBI is expected to submit a full report soon, and sources say more explosive details could surface in the coming weeks.
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