Tirupati laddu case: What the ED’s latest probe has revealed
The ED’s latest probe into the Tirupati laddu case is examining alleged irregularities in ghee supplies, companies, transactions and records — revealing new details about the suspected supply network.
The Tirupati laddu controversy is taking a new turn. What began as questions over the quality and alleged mixing of other substances into the ghee supplied to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, or TTD, has now expandedinto an enforcement directorate (ED) investigation into an alleged network of factories, companies, supply routes and false records.
The latest development came on September 17, when the ED’s Hyderabad Zonal Office arrested Kailash Chand Mangla, promoter of Sukriti Foods, under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, or PMLA.
Mangla was later produced before a Special PMLA Court in Visakhapatnam and sent to judicial custody. So, what is new in the ED’s latest investigation?
According to the ED, the alleged adulterated ghee was made using refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, palmolein and several chemicals.
The chemicals named by the agency include MG-90, monoglycerides, Myvacet Soft 400 and acetic acid ester. The ED alleges that Mangla helped arrange the materials, which were used to manufacture the alleged adulterated ghee at his factory and supply it to the TTD as “Agmark Special Grade Cow Ghee.” This is important because the investigation is not only asking what was allegedly mixed into the ghee.
It is also looking at how the product was made and how it was recorded on paper. There is also a money angle. The ED says that alleged fraudulent ghee supplies to the TTD between 2019 and 2024 were valued at around ₹230 crore. But that does not mean ₹230 crore worth of adulterated ghee was made by Mangla.
According to the ED, around ₹96 crore worth of alleged adulterated ghee was manufactured by Mangla. So, simply put, the ₹230 crore figure refers to the wider ghee supply activity being investigated by the ED, while ₹96 crore is the amount the agency specifically links to alleged adulterated ghee manufactured by Mangla. The investigation also points to a chain of different companies. The ED alleges that Mangla moved the alleged adulterated product through companies including Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities, Malganga Milk & Agro Products and A.R. Dairy Foods. The agency has described these companies as “front entities” in its investigation. But this is an allegation by the ED and has not been proved in court.Perhaps the most important new detail is the alleged false paperwork. The ED alleges that Mangla created and maintained false records showing the purchase and sale of ghee and refined palm oil.
According to the agency, the records were allegedly used to conceal the actual use of the other substances and make the transactions look like they involved the production and sale of genuine cow ghee.And this changes the main question in the case.
It is no longer just: What was allegedly mixed into the ghee? The investigation is also asking: How was the alleged adulterated product made? How did it move through different companies? How were the records and transactions made to look genuine?
The latest arrest is also part of a wider ED investigation. The agency had earlier arrested Vipin Jain, promoter and director of Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk, in connection with the same case.The original case concerns allegations about the supply of adulterated ghee tothe TTD. The ED is now investigating the suspected proceeds of crime and related financial transactions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
But there is an important distinction here. An ED allegation is not the same as a court finding. The investigation is still continuing and the claims made against the people and companies involved will have to be tested and established through the legal process. The latest findings, however, give a clearer picture of the alleged chain — from obtaining the substances, manufacturing the alleged adulterated ghee, using different companies, maintaining records and supplying the product to the TTD, all within the ED’s wider money-laundering investigation. And that is the bigger shift in the Tirupati laddu case.
The story is no longer only about what was allegedly inside the ghee. The ED is now investigating an alleged system behind the supply, who allegedly made the product, how it moved through different companies, how the records were allegedly created and how the related financial transactions allegedly moved.
Those allegations remain under investigation and have not been established by a court.
