Kochi: Sixteen months after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu 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 narrative has shifted from the slaughterhouse to the chemistry laboratory.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-led Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted following Supreme Court intervention in October 2024, filed its final chargesheet on January 23, 2026, before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Nellore. The extensive document offers a forensic dismantling of the “beef tallow” theory that dominated headlines in late 2024.While the investigation confirms a massive procurement scam and dangerous adulteration, it concludes 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.This finding fundamentally alters 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.The ‘milkless’ dairy and the virtual factoryThe chargesheet’s most damning revelation concerns the primary supplier, Bhole Baba Organic Dairy, based in Bhagwanpur, Uttarakhand. Contrary to initial fears of a dairy supply chain contaminated by animal byproducts, the SIT found that Bhole Baba operated what investigators have termed a “virtual” manufacturing unit.The probe revealed that the dairy procured zero litres of milk and processed zero kilograms of butter at its facility. Yet, between 2019 and 2024, it managed to supply a staggering 68 lakh kilograms of “ghee” to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), valued at approximately Rs 250 crore. The “ghee” was, in reality, a synthetic product manufactured without a drop of milk.Esters, not tallowIn September 2024, The Wire had reported that the “S-value” deviations in the initial NDDB CALF report indicated the presence of “foreign fats” but were scientifically inconclusive regarding their specific origin, despite the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) insistence on beef tallow.The SIT’s final chemical analysis, supported by experts from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has now identified the specific method used to defeat the TTD’s quality control protocols. The temple’s testing relied heavily on Reichert-Meissl (RM) values – a standard measure of purity with a range of 24 to 28 – to verify ghee. To hack this test, the syndicate utilised a base of palm oil, palm kernel oil, and palmolein sourced from Budge Budge Co. Ltd. in Kolkata.To this vegetable base, the chargesheet details the addition of Acetic Acid Esters, supplied specifically by a Delhi-based trader named Ajay Kumar Sugandh (Accused No. 16). These esters were used to artificially spike the RM value, creating a “false positive” for pure ghee in standard lab tests. The syndicate also added Beta Carotene to replicate the golden-yellow colour of cow ghee and artificial flavouring to mimic the aroma of “danedar” (granular) ghee. The chargesheet explicitly states that the “S-value” deviations (cited by Naidu in 2024) were caused by these vegetable oils and chemical esters, not by the presence of animal tissue.The ‘recycling’ operation and insider collusionWhile the “animal fat” claim has been ruled out, the chargesheet details an instance of hygiene violation that paints a grim picture of the TTD’s internal rot. The SIT uncovered a “recycling” operation that took place in July 2024. When TTD officials rejected four tankers of ghee for quality issues, the syndicate did not discard the load. Instead, the tankers were diverted to a stone-crushing unit near Vyshnavi Dairy. There, the sludge was “re-refined,” its flavour profile adjusted, re-labelled with fresh dates, and successfully re-supplied to the temple in August 2024.The investigation has widened the net beyond the suppliers, implicating 36 individuals in a conspiracy that bridged private enterprise and temple bureaucracy. Key among the accused is RSSVR Subrahmanyam, the former General Manager (Procurement) at TTD, who is accused of knowingly approving tenders from a blacklisted entity. Also named is Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, an external dairy expert who allegedly provided “favourable inspection reports” certifying Bhole Baba’s production capabilities, despite the facility lacking milk processing infrastructure.The chargesheet further implicates Chinna Appanna, a former aide to the TTD Chairman, and the directors of Bhole Baba, Pomil and Vipin Jain. The investigation alleges that after Bhole Baba was blacklisted in 2022, the Jains routed the same synthetic ghee through Vyshnavi Dairy (Tirupati), run by Apoorva Vinay Kant Chawda, and AR Dairy (Tamil Nadu), run by Raju Rajasekharan, to bypass procurement restrictions.Vindication and the ‘dharma’ pivotThe release of the chargesheet has triggered an immediate political reaction in Andhra Pradesh. For the opposition YSRCP, the absence of beef tallow is a moment of political vindication.Speaking to The Wire after the chargesheet was filed, the YSRCP spokesperson said that “Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been thoroughly exposed… (and) the chargesheet clearly stated that there was no animal fat in the Tirumala laddu prasadam… proving beyond doubt that Chandrababu Naidu’s allegations were politically motivated.” The party further accused the current coalition government of negligence, citing recent incidents such as “rodents freely roaming near the Annavaram prasadam counters” as proof of hollow concern for sanctity.Conversely, the ruling TDP has pivoted its narrative from “sacrilege by beef” to “sacrilege by fraud.” In an official statement, the party argued that the “zero milk” finding proved the “criminal negligence and spiritual bankruptcy” of the previous regime. “The world laughed when we spoke of ‘animal fat’ in 2024. Today, the science proves the ghee was a chemical sludge. This is not just fraud; it is a sin,” a TDP spokesperson stated, highlighting the arrest of TTD officials as proof that the “syndicate” operated from within the administration.Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, whose 11-day Praschit Deeksha (penance) was the emotional centrepiece of the controversy, has doubled down. Kalyan argued this week that the industrial scale of the fraud (68 lakh kgs) validates his demand for a “Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board.” He specifically cited the collusion of political appointees like Chinna Appanna to argue that secular bodies like the FSSAI treat the laddu as a mere “food product,” and that temples must be freed from government control—a stance that continues to challenge the secular legacy of the 1987 Endowments Act.The SIT chargesheet has effectively closed the file on the “beef tallow” conspiracy theory. There was no rendering of animal fat. However, it has opened a new, perhaps more damaging chapter on a Rs 250-crore synthetic adulteration racket that flourished through the collusion of private dairies and the very temple bureaucrats sworn to protect the deity’s offerings.