The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 129.85 crore in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee adulteration case, citing an ongoing money-laundering investigation into the alleged fraudulent supply of adulterated ghee used to prepare Lord Venkateswara Laddu Prasadam.
The Hyderabad Zonal Unit of the ED attached properties linked to Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairymilk Private Limited, Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Private Limited, their promoters Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, family members and other related entities, according to an ED statement. Properties belonging to Sukriti Foods Private Limited, its promoter Kailash Chand Mangla, family members and other associated entities and individuals were also covered by the action.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered at Tirupati East police station. The FIR alleges criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption in the supply of adulterated ghee to TTD. The ED said the predicate agency had filed a charge-sheet and a supplementary charge-sheet before the Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases in Nellore.
According to the ED, the filings disclosed two alleged criminal conspiracies to supply adulterated ghee to TTD for the preparation of Laddu Prasadam. The agency said the alleged fraud cheated TTD, endangered public health and generated unlawful gains.
The ED said its investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, found that adulterated ghee valued at Rs 234.5 crore was allegedly supplied to TTD by Bhole Baba, directly and through front dairies. These dairies are alleged to have bid for TTD tenders in their own names for commissions, while the ghee was manufactured at factories operated by Bhole Baba and Sukriti Foods, according to the agency.
The agency alleged that the manufacturing process involved blending refined palm oil, palm kernel oil and palmolein with chemicals including monoglycerides, acetic acid ester, lactic acid and betacarotene. The resulting material was allegedly invoiced as edible oil. The ED further alleged that palm oil consumption was shown as sales to bogus buyers, while fictitious purchases of milk and ghee and fictitious sales of by-products such as skimmed milk were recorded to make the operations appear legitimate.
The statement also alleged that payments made through banking channels for fictitious purchases were returned in cash through hawala channels. The cash was allegedly used to fund bogus palm-oil buyers, pay commissions to front dairies and make payments to other people connected with the alleged fraud.
The ED had earlier conducted searches on June 3, 2026, at 16 premises across Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The premises were linked to alleged principal conspirators, front dairies, chemical suppliers and accommodation-entry providers. The searches resulted in the seizure and freezing of cash and bank balances worth Rs 2.7 crore, the agency said.
The ED has also arrested Vipin Jain and Kailash Chand Mangla, identified by the agency as promoters and directors of Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairymilk Private Limited and Sukriti Foods Private Limited, respectively. The agency said the two had orchestrated the alleged manufacture of adulterated ghee and its fraudulent supply to TTD.
With the latest attachment, the total value of assets attached, seized or frozen under Section 17 of the PMLA in the case has reached Rs 132.55 crore, according to the ED. Further investigation is under progress.
