Amaravati, Sep 24
The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the adulteration of ghee used for making Tirupati laddu.
Sarvashrestha Tripathi, Inspector General of Police (IG), Guntur range, will head the SIT.
Gopinath Jetty, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Visakhapatnam range, and Harshavardhana Raju, Superintendent of Police, Kadapa, are the members of the SIT.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday announced a probe by SIT into irregularities at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.
Naidu said that the government would take action against those involved in using adulterated ghee after the receipt of the report of SIT.
Chief Minister Naidu had alleged last week that the ghee used for making laddu prasadam during the YSR Congress Party rule had animal fat.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also made public lab reports of ghee samples, which confirmed the presence of animal fat.
The tests done at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) revealed the presence of beef tallow, lard (relating to pig fat), and fish oil in ghee used for the preparation of laddu.
The allegations caused outrage among Tirumala devotees across the country and triggered demands for stringent punishment of those involved.
YSRCP president and former chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy rubbished the allegations that adulterated ghee was used for making laddus. He alleged that Naidu hurt the sentiments of devotees with his false allegations as the TTD has a fool-proof mechanism to check the quality of ghee.
Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to severely reprimand Naidu.
YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha member Y. V. Subba Reddy, who served as TTD chairman during YSRCP rule, has moved the Supreme Court for the constitution of an independent committee headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to look into the allegations of animal fat in ghee used for making laddus.