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Tirupati, Nov 12 (IANS) Former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) executive officer (EO) AV Dharma Reddy on Wednesday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the TTD Laddu Ghee adulteration case for the second day.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-led SIT was questioning Dharma Reddy at its temporary office near Alipiri.
On Tuesday, SIT officials interrogated him for about nine hours.
Officials, reportedly led by CBI DIG Murali Rambha, questioned him on lapses in ghee procurement, verification of suppliers and quality control measures during his tenure.
He was reportedly questioned as to how Bhole Baba Dairy, blacklisted by TTD in 2022, continued to supply ghee allegedly through proxy firms.
The SIT had recently arrested a person named Ajay Kumar Sugandh, who supplied various chemicals to Bhole Baba Dairy.
The SIT investigation revealed that Uttarakhand-based Bhole Baba Organic Dairy never procured even a drop of milk or butter from anywhere, yet managed to supply 68 lakh kg of ghee to TTD between 2019 and 2024 through its proxies, including Nellore-based Vaishnavi Dairy, Maharashtra-based Mal Ganga Dairy and Tamil Nadu-based AR Dairy.
The promoters of Bhole Baba Dairy allegedly set up a full-fledged adulterated desi ghee manufacturing unit and supplied 68 lakh kilograms of adulterated ghee worth Rs 250 crore to TTD for use in preparing Laddu Prasadam.
The SIT had last month arrested K Chinna Appanna, a Rajya Sabha member of the YSR Congress Party and a close aide of former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy.
Appanna, who worked as Subba Reddy’s personal assistant from 2014 to 2024, allegedly played a key role in awarding contracts to ineligible dairies.
The SIT has also reportedly issued a notice to Subba Reddy to appear before it for questioning on November 13.
The alleged laddu scam came to light after the Telugu Desam Party-led alliance came to power in June 2024. In September 2025, the state government constituted an SIT headed by Inspector General Best Tripathi to investigate the case.
However, on petitions challenging the formation of the SIT by the state government, the High Court ordered the creation of a new, independent five-member SIT in October 2024, replacing the state-appointed SIT.
The Supreme Court-appointed SIT includes two CBI officers, two senior police officers from Andhra Pradesh and an officer from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
–IANS
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