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SIT arrests close aide of ex-TTD chairman in Tirumala ‘prasadam’ adulteration case
According to an official, Appanna allegedly played a key role in awarding contracts to ineligible dairies
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Supreme Court in October 2024 to probe the alleged adulteration of ghee used in the preparation of the famous Tirumala laddu, on Wednesday night arrested K Chinna Appanna, a close aide of YSR Congress party’s Rajya Sabha member and former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman Y V Subba Reddy, people familiar with the matter said.
Appanna, a native of Vizianagaram district, served as Subba Reddy’s personal assistant from 2014 till 2024. During the YSRCP’s regime between 2019 and 2024, he also handled protocol responsibilities at the AP Bhavan in New Delhi.
According to an official privy to the SIT investigation, Appanna allegedly played a key role in awarding contracts to ineligible dairies. He was earlier interrogated for two days in June at the SIT office in Tirupati, after which he approached the state high court.
The high court granted a stay on the probe on July 10. However, following Supreme Court directions, the investigation resumed in late September.
After two days of renewed questioning this week, the SIT officials arrested Appanna for non-cooperation and produced him before the ACB Court in Nellore on Wednesday night.
The case traces back to the tenure of Subba Reddy as TTD chairman, when the TTD allegedly procured ghee adulterated with animal fat from a Tamil Nadu—based dairy firm A R Foods for the preparation of sacred “laddu prasadam” offered to the devotees.
The scam came to light after the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition came to power in June 2024 and ordered an inquiry. In September 2025, the state government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by inspector general Sarvashreshta Tripathi to probe into the case.
However, the accused challenged the constitution of the SIT by the state government in the Supreme Court and the apex court in October 2024 ordered the creation of a new, independent five-member SIT, replacing the state-appointed SIT.
The SC-appointed SIT, consisting of two CBI officers, two senior police officers from Andhra Pradesh, and one official from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has been directly supervised by the CBI director.
During the investigation, the SIT authorities disclosed that it was Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Private Limited, based out of Roorkee in Uttarakhand, which had supplied the ghee to TTD in June 2014, routing it through Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Pvt Ltd at Punabaka in Tirupati district and A R Dairy, Dundigal, Chennai.
In February this year, the SIT arrested four persons belong to three different dairy firms - Pomil Jain and Bipin Jain, directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Apurva Vinay Kant Chawda, CEO of Sri Vaishnavi Dairy and Raju Rajasekharan, the MD of AR Dairy.
On July 3, 2025, the state high court granted bail to Pomil Jain, Vipin Jain and Apurva Chawda, on the ground that there were “serious discrepancies” in the investigation. The bail application of Raju Rajasekharan is pending.
