7 months ago
2
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged ghee adulteration lawsuit has arrested Chinna Appanna, a adjacent adjutant and erstwhile idiosyncratic adjunct of TTD’s erstwhile Trust Board Chairman and Rajya Sabha subordinate Y.V. Subba Reddy.
Mr. Appanna has been named arsenic accused No. 24 successful the lawsuit being investigated by the squad led by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
He was arrested astatine Alipiri present connected Thursday, produced earlier the ACB tribunal successful Nellore, and sent to judicial remand till November 11.
According to the investigation, Mr. Appanna allegedly sought details of each the ghee suppliers from the wide manager of the TTD’s procurement wing, and contacted immoderate of them, demanding a committee of ₹25 per kg of ghee supplied to the TTD.
When representatives of the Bhole Baba dairy declined to wage the commission, Mr. Appanna allegedly insisted upon the officials to behaviour a carnal inspection of their works erstwhile again, successful a bid to get them disqualified from participating successful aboriginal tenders. He besides allegedly sent anonymous letters to the TTD against the dairy.
After the Bhole Baba dairy got eliminated from the further circular of tenders, Mr. Appanna allegedly played a cardinal relation successful getting Premier Agri Foods into the ring, which quoted a terms of ₹467 per kg of ghee, a whopping ₹138/kg higher than the erstwhile supplier Bhole Baba dairy’s ₹329.
After inspecting Mr. Appanna’s telephone records and slope statements, the officials recovered that helium had received kickbacks to the tune of ₹50 lakh successful assorted forms, including Hawala channels.
‘Vegetable fats’
The SIT officials recovered that the ghee samples collected from assorted suppliers astatine the behest of Mr. Subba Reddy were sent to the CFTRI-Mysuru for adulteration checks successful 2022, which revealed the beingness of rootlike fats (Vanaspati). However, nary enactment had been taken against the companies, which continued to proviso the aforesaid ghee till 2024.
Between 2022 and 2024, astir 68 lakh kg of “adulterated ghee” worthy ₹250 crore was supplied to the TTD, with the contractors supplying the aforesaid astatine ₹400/kg, which had been procured astatine ₹250/kg, the investigating squad found.
