Tirupati, 21 Sept

Amid concerns among devotees on the quality of ghee used in the famous Tirupati 'laddu prasadam', the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has said sanctity of the sacred sweetmeat has been restored.

In a social media post on Friday night, the TTD, which manages the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, on the hills of Tirumala said the divinity and purity of Srivari Laddu is unblemished now.

“The divinity and purity of Srivari laddu is unblemished now. TTD is committed to protecting the holiness of Laddu Prasadam to the satisfaction of all the devotees,” the temple board said in the post.

The temple body managing the super-rich shrine on Friday revealed it has come across sub-standard ghee and presence of lard in samples tested for quality, echoing claims first made by Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu two days ago.

With the fingers of accusation being pointed at the previous YSRCP regime over the issue, former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy described the matter as "diversion politics," and slammed it as a "concocted story."

The Centre has sought a report on the matter from the Andhra Pradesh government and promised suitable action after examining it.

Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi called for an investigation into the allegations.

Citing a lab report on Friday, the TTD stated that there was presence of 'lard' (pig fat) and other impurities in the ghee.

TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao said lab tests have revealed the presence of animal fat and lard in chosen samples and the board was in the process of blacklisting the contractor who supplied 'adulterated' ghee.

 FIR Against X Users Over 'Amul' Ghee Claims

Police on Saturday registered a case against seven users of social media platform 'X' for allegedly spreading misinformation that the "low quality" ghee used for making laddus at the Tirupati temple belonged to the 'Amul' brand, an official said.

A massive political row has erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that animal fat was used in making laddus made Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati during the previous government in the state.

Anand-based Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its milk and dairy products under the brand name 'Amul', has denied having supplied ghee (clarified butter) to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple.

As per the FIR, X users of seven different handles spread misinformation that ghee with animal fat used for preparing laddus for Tirupati Balaji temple belonged to the 'Amul' brand with the intention of harming the reputation of the GCMMF, the cyber crime police station official said.

These X users spread misinformation that ghee sold under the Amul brand was used to prepare laddus which is then used as 'prasad' (offering) at the temple in Tirupati, thereby damaging the reputation of the co-operative organisation, it said.

The FIR was filed at the Ahmedabad cyber crime police station.

The accused persons were booked under sections 336 (4) and 196 (1) (a) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with forgery intending to harm the reputation of any party, and promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, etc, respectively.

The police also invoked provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, the official said.

The GCMMF issued a clarification on its X handle 'Amul.coop' on Friday night and said it never supplied Amul ghee to the TTD.

"We also wish to clarify that Amul ghee is made from milk at our state-of-the-art production facilities which are ISO-certified. Amul ghee is made from high quality pure milk fat...This post is being issued to stop this misinformation campaign against Amul," it said.

GCMMF Managing Director Jayen Mehta said that certain persons were spreading misinformation that the low-quality ghee used at the Tirupati temple was supplied by Amul.

"Cyber crime has registered an FIR against those spreading misinformation against us," Mehta said.

He said that such misinformation is a matter of serious concern for 36 lakh dairy farmer families dependent on Amul for their livelihood.

"We never supplied the ghee to the temple. We have lodged an FIR to stop this misinformation," he said.-PTI