₹129-crore assets attached by ED in TTD adulterated ghee case

The Enforcement Directorate, Hyderabad Zonal Office, on Wednesday provisionally attached immovable and movable assets worth ₹129.85 crore belonging to several people accused in the supply of adulterated ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) for making of sacred “laddu prasadam” offered to Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district.

An official release from ED said the accused whose properties were attached are: Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt Ltd, Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd, their promoters Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain respectively, and their family members; Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd, its promoter Kailash Chand Mangla and his family members; and other related entities/individuals.

The action was taken under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an ongoing money laundering probe in the case.

According to the official release, the ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered at Tirupati East police station in June 2024, alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption in the fraudulent supply of adulterated ghee to TTD.

The special investigation team probing the case filed a chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet before the Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases, Nellore, disclosing a massive criminal conspiracy to supply adulterated ghee to TTD for preparation of the sacred Lord Venkateswara laddu prasadam, thereby cheating TTD, endangering public health and generating huge unlawful gains.

Investigation under PMLA has revealed that adulterated ghee worth ₹234.50 crore was supplied to TTD by Bhole Baba, directly and through front dairies which bid for TTD tenders in their own names for a commission.

The ghee was actually manufactured at the factories of Bhole Baba and Sukriti Foods by blending refined palm oil, palm kernel oil and palmolein with chemicals such as monoglycerides, acetic acid ester, lactic acid and beta-carotene, invoiced as edible oils.

“To clean the books, the palm oil so consumed was shown as sold to bogus buyers, while fictitious purchases of milk and ghee and fictitious sales of by-products such as skimmed milk were recorded to project a genuine dairy operation,” the ED said.

It further said payments made through banking channels against the fictitious purchases were returned in cash through hawala channels, and this cash was used to fund the bogus palm-oil buyers, to pay commissions to the front dairies and to pay other persons connected with the fraud.

Earlier, the ED had conducted searches on June 3, 2026 at 16 premises in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh linked to the principal conspirators, front dairies, chemical suppliers and accommodation-entry providers, resulting in seizure/freezing of cash and bank balances of ₹2.7 Crore.

The ED has also arrested Vipin Jain and Kailash Chand Mangla, promoters and directors of Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk Pvt Ltd and Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd respectively, who orchestrated the manufacturing of adulterated ghee and its fraudulent supply to TTD.

“Total attachments in this case, including seizure and freezing under Section 17 of PMLA, amounts to ₹132.55 crore so far. Further investigation is under progress,” the ED release said.