Laddu Ghee Case: SIT Makes First Arrest Within TTD
The arrest placed the TTD’s procurement system under public scrutiny.
Tirupati: A senior engineering official of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams was taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team on Thursday for his alleged role in the supply of synthetic ghee for preparation of the Tirumala laddus.
The officer, RSSVR Subrahmanyam, was detained in Tirupati. This marks the first arrest from within the temple administration in connection with the adulteration case.
Subrahmanyam had served twice as general manager (procurement), responsible for purchasing commodities, including the ghee used for prasadams.
His held this position from July 6, 2017 to May 16, 2018, and later from May 13, 2020 to May 1, 2023.
Sources said procurement transactions during these periods involved large-volumes costing several hundred crores. He was shifted from the procurement wing in May 2023, after which he was serving as an executive engineer in Tirumala.
The SIT has so far named 29 persons as accused, most of them representatives of dairies that supplied ghee to TTD between 2019 and 2024.
Nearly 10 suspects have already been arrested, buy Subrahmanyam was the first TTD employee to face arrest.
The arrest placed the TTD’s procurement system under public scrutiny.
Subrahmanyam was listed as Accused 29 in Crime No. 470/2024 registered at the Tirupati East police station. After undergoing a mandatory medical examination at the SVR Ruia government general hospital, he was taken to Nellore, to be produced before the special court for SPE & ACB cases.
In Delhi, former TTD chairman and Rajya Sabha MP, YY Subba Reddy, claimed that he had instructed the procurement wing in 2022 to send ghee samples to the central food technological research institute (CFTRI), Mysore for testing. However, he said, he was never informed of the test results.
The SIT is now probing whether Subrahmanyam failed to act on CFTRI findings that reportedly confirmed adulteration.
Sources said the SIT has traced possible financial links between TTD’s procurement officials and suppliers, and is examining whether such transactions influenced continued acceptance of substandard ghee. More arrests are likely from within the temple administration, the sources said.
