The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will investigate money laundering allegations regarding the adulteration of Laddus Prasad of Tirumala Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, for which the ED has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). On Tuesday (February 10, 2026), sources said that ED has registered an ECIR against the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED started the investigation on the basis of the charge sheet given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of CBI.
The accused are accused of doing transactions on the basis of hawala. Private dairy firms and middlemen paid bribes to some officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) through hawala channels to influence the tender and quality clearance of ghee. ED will investigate the role of money trail and hawala network in this entire matter.
The charge sheet filed by the SIT in the Nellore district court on January 23, 2026, names of 36 accused, including directors of dairy companies. According to the information, shell companies were used for financial transactions worth Rs 250 crore.
There are allegations that TTD officials were bribed to sell the mixture of vegetable oils and chemicals as pure ghee. The ED investigation began days after the Andhra Pradesh government announced the formation of a one-man committee to thoroughly investigate the SIT report and initiate administrative action against those concerned.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had announced on February 5 that the SIT would identify the shortcomings and fix responsibility. He said that after the committee completes the review, the government will initiate appropriate action as per the results.
It is alleged that this adulteration in the Laddus Prasad of Tirupati temple took place between the years 2019 and 2024 and then the YSR Congress Party was in power in the state. On the charge sheet, YSRCP claimed that the SIT had given a clean chit as it had made it clear that animal fat was not mixed in the ghee, as alleged by Chief Minister Naidu. However, terming adulteration as a serious crime against the faith of devotees, Chandrababu Naidu said that no report has given a clean chit to the YSRCP in the matter. He also alleged that bathroom cleaner was used in adulterated ghee to make laddus.
