Tirupati Laddu Prasadam row: Andhra Pradesh govt appoints IG as SIT chief to probe ghee adulteration at TTD

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh govt has appointed Sarvashreshth Tripathi, the current Guntur Range Inspector General (IG), as the chief of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged adulteration of ghee used in the famous Tirumala Venkanna laddu.
This SIT will also look into other irregularities that reportedly occurred during the previous YSRCP govt in Tirumala.
Sarvashreshth Tripathi, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the 2006 batch, has earlier served as the superintendent of police (SP) for the combined Guntur and Krishna districts.
During the general elections, he replaced Palaraju as the Guntur range IG after the Election Commission transferred Palaraju. Despite the change in the govt, Tripathi continued to hold the position of IG.
Along with Tripathi, the SIT includes other key members such as Visakhapatnam range deputy inspector general (DIG) Gopinath Jatti, Kadapa SP Harshavardhan Raju, and several deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), circle inspectors (CIs), and sub-inspectors (SIs).
The team is tasked with probing the recent controversy surrounding the quality of ingredients used in the preparation of the sacred laddus, which are distributed as prasadam to the devotees at the Tirumala temple.