Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached assets worth Rs 129.85 crore in the TTD ghee adulteration case. The action targeted dairy companies, their promoters, family members and associated entities as part of a money laundering investigation.
The investigation concerned the alleged supply of adulterated ghee worth Rs 234.5 crore to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). The ghee was supplied for preparing the sacred Laddu Prasadam offered to Lord Venkateswara.
According to the ED, the attached movable and immovable assets belonged to Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Private Limited and Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Private Limited. The attachment also covered their promoters, Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, and their family members.
Additionally, the agency attached assets belonging to Sukriti Foods Private Limited, its promoter Kailash Chand Mangla and his family members. Other individuals and entities linked to the alleged transactions also faced attachment proceedings.
ED details allegations in TTD ghee adulteration case
The ED alleged that Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk Private Limited and Sukriti Foods Private Limited manufactured adulterated ghee using refined palm oil, palm kernel oil and palmolein mixed with chemicals.
According to the agency, the companies allegedly used front dairies to obtain TTD supply tenders in exchange for commissions. These arrangements reportedly enabled the supply of adulterated ghee through entities that secured the contracts.
The investigation also uncovered allegations of fictitious purchase and sales entries. The ED alleged that those entries helped conceal the transactions and route illicit funds.
Earlier, the agency conducted searches at 16 premises across six states in connection with the TTD ghee adulteration case. During those operations, investigators seized or froze cash and bank balances totalling Rs 2.7 crore.
The ED also arrested Vipin Jain, promoter of Bhole Baba Organic Dairymilk, and Kailash Chand Mangla, promoter of Sukriti Foods, during the investigation. Following the latest provisional attachment, the combined value of assets attached, seized or frozen in the case reached Rs 132.55 crore, the agency said.
The ED continued its investigation into the alleged adulteration, financial transactions and money laundering activities linked to the ghee supplies.