The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the alleged Tirumala ghee adulteration case, has reportedly uncovered a web of deceit involving multiple entities. The remand report filed by the CBI, following the judicial custody of four key accused in the case on Sunday, has brought to light alarming details of the large-scale fraud.
Investigations revealed that AR Dairy, the prime accused in the case, had signed a contract with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to supply 10 lakh kgs of ghee. However, instead of procuring the ghee on its own, the AR Dairy procured it from Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Private Limited, a Roorkee-based company.
The ghee was then transported in tankers to Vaishnavi Dairy located near Srikalahasti, which in turn, supplied the stock to the TTD on the basis of fake GST invoices, forged documents, counterfeit laboratory reports, and fabricated warranty certificates.
The alleged fraud traces back to March 2022, when the TTD invited tenders for the supply of ghee. The representatives of Vaishnavi Dairy manipulated the documents and secured the contract in the name of AR Dairy as the latter neither had the qualifications to take part in the tendering process nor the production capacity.
Between June 12 and July 4, 2023, the TTD received multiple ghee consignments which were found to be substandard. The TTD then sent the samples for testing to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat which confirmed the presence of animal fat in the samples.
The TTD then rejected several consignments in July which, instead of being returned to AR Dairy’s facility in Coimbatore, was redirected to Vaishnavi Dairy.
Further investigations revealed that the Bhole Baba Dairy had earlier supplied ghee to the TTD at ₹291 per kg in 2019. The company later collaborated with Vaishnavi Dairy, encouraging it to take part in the tenders with an assurance of supply and a commission of 2% to 3%.
Initially, Vaishnavi Dairy supplied ghee to the TTD. However, the TTD disqualified the firm by June 2022 after discovering the substandard quality of the ghee and its failure to provide records of procurement, payments to suppliers, and other relevant documents.
Bhole Baba Dairy directors Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain then sought an alternative route to secure the contract for the ghee. They approached AR Dairy’s Managing Director Rajasekharan and offered him a commission of ₹2.75 to ₹3 per kg to participate in the tendering process on their behalf.
The SIT, which arrested the four key accused in the case, has sought their custody, suspecting insider involvement in the scam. The investigators have raided the residences of Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain in Dehradun, and are learnt to have seized some crucial documents.
Once the scandal came to light, Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, who were inducted as the directors of Vaishnavi Dairy, resigned in a bid to cover their tracks and appointed their drivers Surendra Singh and Sourabh Kashyap in their place. They also reportedly destroyed their mobile phones to mislead the authorities by claiming that they had lost their phones.
Published - February 11, 2025 07:25 pm IST
