New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday (September 18) named six adulterants and other chemicals which were used to adulterate ghee used to prepare Tirupati Laddu’s but ruled out the presence of animal fat, reported The News Minute.Earlier, the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed its final chargesheet on January 23, 2026, before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Nellore and concluded that the contaminants were not the rendered fat of cows or pigs, but a sophisticated, industrial-scale cocktail of vegetable oils and laboratory esters designed to chemically mimic dairy parameters.Back in 2024, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had ignited a nationwide political and religious firestorm by alleging that the sacred Tirupati laddu had been desecrated with “animal fat” – specifically citing beef tallow and lard.The News Minute’s report added that in the press note issued by the ED, the agency has said it arrested Kailash Chand Mangla, promoter of Sukriti Foods Pvt Ltd on Thursday (September 17), under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in connection with the alleged adulteration and fraudulent supply of ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).During investigation, it was found that adulterated ghee was allegedly manufactured using ‘refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, palmolein, and various chemicals including MG-90, monoglycerides, Myvacet soft 400, and Acetic Acid Esther,” said the ED.The ED said that the estimated value of the ghee supplied between 2019 and 2024 was around Rs 230 crore, and of this, ghee worth approximately Rs 96 crore was allegedly manufactured by Mangla.This findinga fundamentally alter the complexion of a controversy that deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan had originally framed as an assault on Sanatana Dharma, and which the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) now claims was a weaponised lie used to target the previous Jagan Mohan Reddy administration.