Chennai: Four people were arrested by the CBI in connection with the Tirupati -Tirumala temple laddu adulteration row.
They were arrested late on Sunday night and were produced before a court in Tirupati and remanded in judicial custody, according to reports.
Those arrested were Vipin Jain and Pomil Jain, former Directors of Bhole Baba Dairy, Apoorva Chawda from Vaishnavi Dairy and Raju Rajasekharan from AR Dairy located at Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu which supplied ghee to the Tirumala temple for making laddus.
The arrests followed after a controversy arose over presence of animal fats in the laddus following which the Supreme Court constituted a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) in November last year to probe the issue.
The controversy was raised by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who had alleged use of animal fat in preparing Tirupati laddus during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in the state, triggering a major political row.
It may be noted for years, laddus were offered as prasadams at the Tirumala temple, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, which used to attract lakhs and lakhs of devotees from across the world.