Faith meets fraud once again, and this time, it’s at Tirupati temple, one of the most sacred places for devotees. A blacklisted dairy company managed to sneak adulterated ghee into the temple kitchens by using fake companies as cover. The same impure ghee went into making the famous Tirupati laddus, which millions of devotees take home as prasad.
How Did This Happen?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested four key people in the scam:
- Pomil Jain and Bipin Jain, ex-directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Roorkee
- Apoorva Vinay Kant Chawda, CEO of Vaishnavi Dairy, Poonambakkam
- Raju Rajasekharan, MD of AR Dairy, Dundigal
Bhole Baba Dairy had been banned earlier for selling low-quality ghee to the temple. But instead of stopping, they found a new way—creating fake companies to keep doing business. These companies hid their real connections and tricked temple authorities into signing contracts with them.
Why Should This Worry Devotees?
For millions of people, the Tirupati laddus are sacred, not just sweets. But imagine consuming something made with ghee that wasn’t even pure. When devotees first raised concerns about the taste and quality, authorities started digging. What they found was shocking—substandard ghee was being used right under their noses, despite strict rules.
What Happens Now?
- The CBI has arrested the four accused, and investigations are still on.
- The TTD has promised stricter quality checks so that such frauds don’t happen again.
- Devotees are demanding answers—how did a blacklisted company manage to cheat the system for so long?
Faith Betrayed, Who is Responsible?
This scandal is not just about food fraud. It’s about betrayal of trust, about how corruption creeps into even the holiest of places. People donate crores to temples, believing that everything is handled with honesty. But when money and power mix, purity takes a backseat—whether it’s in business, politics, or even religious places.
The real question is, will those responsible face real punishment, or will they escape through legal loopholes? Only time will tell. But for now, devotees are left wondering—if even temple offerings aren’t sacred anymore, what is?
