The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Kailash Chand Mangla, owner of Sukruti Foods, in connection with the Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case. The arrest was made as the agency probes alleged irregularities in ghee supplied to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
According to the ED, ghee supplied to TTD under the label of “Agmark Special Grade cow ghee” was allegedly manufactured using refined palm oil and various chemicals. The agency said the product was found to contain ingredients such as palm kernel oil, palmolein, and additives including MG-90, monoglycerides, Myvacet Soft 400 and acetic acid ester.
The ED claimed that between 2019 and 2024, the value of the allegedly adulterated ghee supplied by the firm to TTD was about Rs 230 crore.
The agency alleged that Mangla played a key role in the conspiracy by facilitating procurement of adulteration materials, producing adulterated ghee at his factory premises, and coordinating distribution through multiple shell entities. The ED’s primary allegation is that the adulteration enabled illegal money transactions.
Mangla is currently being questioned and has been sent to judicial custody. Earlier, the ED had also arrested Vipin Jain, founder and director of Bole Baba Organic Dairy Milk, on similar allegations in the case.
