Focus Shifts to Uttarakhand Organic Dairy Firm, TTD Officials; Probe Lasted 15 Months
The probe, which covered 12 states, identified Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, directors of Uttarakhand-based Bhole Baba Organic Dairy, as the main conspirators
TIRUPATI: The police special investigation team on Friday filed a chargesheet in the Nellore ACB Court in the Tirumala Srivari laddu ghee adulteration case. The investigation lasted 15 months.
The probe, which covered 12 states, identified Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, directors of Uttarakhand-based Bhole Baba Organic Dairy, as the main conspirators. Several firms and individuals from Andhra Pradesh and other states were involved in the supply chain, the SIT said.
In the chargesheet filed on Friday, 36 persons have been named as accused.
The first chargesheet, filed in May last year, named 24 accused. In a memo submitted to the ACB Court on November 28, the SIT said the involvement of 12 more persons, including three former general managers from the TTD purchase wing, had been noticed during the investigation.
The original complainant, TTD GM Pralaya Kaveri Muralikrishna, was also named as an accused, taking the total number of accused to 36.
The case was initially probed by an SIT appointed by the state government. Subsequently, following directions from the Supreme Court, the probe was entrusted to a five-member CBI team.
At an early stage, investigators suspected that the source of the adulterated ghee was AR Dairy in Tamil Nadu, but further inquiry traced the main links of the supply network to Uttarakhand.
Senior CBI officers along with about 30 officials from the state police, took part in the probe.
The SIT examined procurement records, laboratory reports and financial transactions. It verified the sources of materials used to manufacture the adulterated ghee, the routing of payments linked to TTD, and how the ghee was supplied to Tirumala despite knowledge of its substandard quality.
Allegations of bribery and lapses in procurement procedures were also examined.
According to findings placed before the court, Bhole Baba and associated dairies allegedly supplied about 68 lakh kg of counterfeit ghee between 2019 and 2024, involving transactions worth around `250 crore.
Laboratory analysis and procurement records indicate that the product was made using palm oil and hydrogenated oils, blended with chemicals and additives to resemble pure ghee, and that standard purity tests were manipulated.
