ED attaches ₹129.85 crore in TTD ghee adulteration money laundering case
Synopsis
The ED has traced a ₹234.5 crore adulterated-ghee supply ring that blended palm oil with chemicals to fake genuine dairy operations, laundered the proceeds through hawala, and fraudulently fed the sacred Lord Venkateswara Laddu Prasadam supply chain. With ₹132.55 crore now attached or seized and two promoters arrested, the financial scale of the TTD fraud is proving far larger than the original FIR suggested.
Key Takeaways
The Enforcement Directorate provisionally attached assets worth ₹129.85 crore linked to the TTD ghee adulteration fraud under PMLA, 2002 .
Targets include Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Pvt Ltd , Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd , Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd , and their promoters Vipin Jain , Pomil Jain , and Kailash Chand Mangla .
Adulterated ghee worth ₹234.5 crore was allegedly supplied to TTD for Lord Venkateswara Laddu Prasadam by blending palm oil with chemicals.
Earlier searches on 3 June 2026 covered 16 premises across six states; cash and bank balances of ₹2.7 crore were seized or frozen.
Total attachments, including Section 17 PMLA seizures, have reached ₹132.55 crore ; further investigation is ongoing.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable and movable assets worth ₹129.85 crore linked to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee adulteration fraud, as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attachments target Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Pvt Ltd, Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd, and several related entities and individuals.
Who Has Been Targeted
The ED's Hyderabad Zonal Office attached assets belonging to Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Pvt Ltd and its promoters Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, along with their family members. Assets of Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd, Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd, its promoter Kailash Chand Mangla, and his family members were also attached. Several other related entities and individuals fall under the sweep of the provisional attachment order.
The Adulteration Scheme
The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered at Tirupati East Police Station, which alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and corruption in the fraudulent supply of adulterated ghee to TTD. According to the agency, adulterated ghee worth ₹234.5 crore was supplied to TTD for the preparation of the sacred Lord Venkateswara Laddu Prasadam.
Investigators found that the ghee was manufactured at factories of Bhole Baba and Sukriti Foods by blending refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, and palmolein with chemicals — including monoglycerides, acetic acid ester, lactic acid, and betacarotene — invoiced as edible oils. Front dairies, acting as intermediaries, bid for TTD tenders in their own names in exchange for commissions, while the ghee was actually produced by the principal entities.
How the Books Were Manipulated
To conceal the trail, the palm oil consumed in production was fictitiously shown as sold to bogus buyers. Fabricated entries of milk and ghee purchases, as well as fictitious sales of by-products such as skimmed milk, were recorded to project the appearance of a genuine dairy operation, according to the agency's statement.
Payments routed through banking channels against these fictitious purchases were reportedly returned in cash via hawala channels. This cash was then used to fund bogus palm-oil buyers, pay commissions to front dairies, and compensate other individuals connected with the fraud — a layered money-laundering structure designed to frustrate detection.
Prior Searches and Arrests
The ED had earlier conducted searches on 3 June 2026 across 16 premises spread across Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh, targeting the principal conspirators, front dairies, chemical suppliers, and accommodation-entry providers. Those searches resulted in the seizure and freezing of cash and bank balances totalling ₹2.7 crore.
The agency has since arrested Vipin Jain, promoter and director of Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Pvt Ltd, and Kailash Chand Mangla, promoter and director of Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd — the two men the ED describes as having orchestrated the adulterated ghee manufacturing and its fraudulent supply to TTD. A chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet have been filed before the Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases, Nellore.
Total Recovery and Next Steps
Cumulative attachments in the case — including seizures and freezing under Section 17 of PMLA — now stand at ₹132.55 crore. The ED has stated that further investigation is in progress. This case carries broader significance: the adulteration of Laddu Prasadam, one of India's most widely consumed religious offerings, drew intense national outrage when it first surfaced, and the financial trail now traced by the ED suggests a far more organised criminal enterprise than initially reported.
Point of View
Hawala cash loops, and commission-fed front companies — that goes well beyond a simple quality lapse. The ₹234.5 crore supply figure dwarfs the ₹129.85 crore now attached, signalling that a significant portion of proceeds has already been moved beyond easy reach. What is striking is the systematic infiltration of a tendering process that hundreds of millions of pilgrims trust implicitly; the fraud did not merely cheat a religious trust, it endangered mass public health at one of the world's most visited pilgrimage sites. Accountability must extend to the procurement oversight failures within TTD itself — a question the money-laundering probe, focused on the supply side, may not fully answer.
NationPress
14 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the TTD ghee adulteration case?
The TTD ghee adulteration case involves the fraudulent supply of ghee blended with palm oil and industrial chemicals to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams for use in preparing Lord Venkateswara Laddu Prasadam. The ED is investigating it as a money-laundering offence under PMLA, 2002, based on an FIR filed at Tirupati East Police Station alleging criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and corruption.
Which companies and individuals have the ED targeted?
The ED has attached assets of Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Pvt Ltd and its promoters Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd, Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd and its promoter Kailash Chand Mangla, along with their respective family members and other related entities. Vipin Jain and Kailash Chand Mangla have also been arrested.
How much has been attached or seized in total?
Total attachments in the case — including the latest provisional attachment of ₹129.85 crore and earlier seizures and freezing under Section 17 of PMLA — stand at ₹132.55 crore. The ED says further investigation is in progress.
How was the adulteration carried out and the money laundered?
According to the ED, ghee was manufactured by blending refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, and palmolein with chemicals like monoglycerides, acetic acid ester, lactic acid, and betacarotene at factories of Bhole Baba and Sukriti Foods. The books were doctored with fictitious purchases of milk and ghee and fake sales of by-products to simulate genuine dairy operations. Payments against these fictitious entries were returned in cash through hawala channels, which were then used to fund bogus buyers and pay commissions to front dairies.
What happens next in the ED investigation?
The ED has filed a chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet before the Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases, Nellore. The agency has said further investigation under PMLA is in progress, indicating more attachments or arrests could follow as the financial trail is traced further.
