The N Chandrababu Naidu government appointed senior IPS Sarvashresth Tripathi, as the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that shall probe the alleged adulteration of ghee used in making the famous Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) temple ‘laddu prasadam.‘ Shortly after the allegations caused stern umbrage, CM Naidu ordered a probe by the SIT into the alleged irregularities at the TTD to be headed by the Top Cop.
IPS Tripathi, a 2006-batch IPS officer of Andhra cadre, is presently posted as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Guntur range. Officer Tripathi shall be aided by two more senior IPS officers – Mr. Gopinath Jetty (IGP, Vihskapatnam range) and Mr. Harshavardhan Raju (SP, Kadapa district), in the SIT.
IPS Sarvashresth Tripathi’s Career Thus Far:
Mr. Tripathi has served in India’s premium police service for almost two decades. He had earlier worked as the SP in the Guntur and Krishna districts and was posted as the Guntur range IG during the last assembly elections. In 2019, the IPS officer was given an inter-cadre deputation from the Andhra Pradesh cadre to the Uttar Pradesh cadre for an initial period of three years on the grounds of personal hardship. He had served as the DIG (administration) and as the Commandant of the 14th Battalion of APSP in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh Police.
What is the Controversy?
CM Naidu had alleged that the ghee used for making the Laddu Prasadam was mixed with animal fat. He further alleged that this foul practice was adopted back when the YSRCP led by Mr. Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was in power. Samples from four tankers supplying the ghee were sent to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for analysis. Then quoting a lab report, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) pointed out that some samples of ghee which was used for the preparation of the laddus revealed the presence of beef tallow, lard (relating to pig fat), and fish oil.
Several Hindu religious leaders, including those from the Andhra Pradesh Hindu Sadhu Parishad, staged a protest outside the temple’s administrative building over the issue and demanded stringent punishment for those involved and said a case should immediately be filed. “Such desecration of Tirumala has never happened before. Those involved in tarnishing the sanctity of Tirumala should not be spared,” said one of the protesters.
