A senior police official said an FIR has been registered against seven X users for spreading misinformation that ghee with animal fat used for preparing laddus at Tirupati Balaji temple belonged to the ‘Amul’ brand.
Tirupati Laddu Row: An FIR was registered against several X (former Twitter) users for falsely claiming that the ghee (clarified butter), used in the adulterated laddus at the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, belonged to Amul. According to the police, a case has been registered against seven X users for allegedly spreading misinformation that the “low quality” Amul ghee was used in making the laddus.
In a statement, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its milk and dairy products under the brand name ‘Amul’, has denied having supplied ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple.
X users booked
A senior police official said an FIR has been registered against X users of seven different handles for spreading misinformation that ghee with animal fat used for preparing laddus for Tirupati Balaji temple belonged to the ‘Amul’ brand with the intention of harming the reputation of the GCMMF.
The FIR, which was filed at the Ahmedabad cyber crime police station, stated that the accused X users spread misinformation that ghee sold under the Amul brand was used to prepare laddus which is then used as ‘prasad’ (offering) at the temple in Tirupati, thereby damaging the reputation of the co-operative organisation.
The accused have been booked under sections 336 (4) and 196 (1) (a) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) dealing with forgery intending to harm the reputation of any party, and promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, etc, respectively, and provisions of Information Technology (IT) Act, the police said.
Amul issues clarification
Following the allegations, GCMMF, which runs the Amul brand, issued a clarification on its X handle ‘Amul.coop’ on Friday night, stating that it never supplied Amul ghee to the TTD.
GCMMF Managing Director Jayen Mehta said that certain persons were spreading misinformation that the low-quality ghee used at the Tirupati temple was supplied by Amul.
“Cyber crime has registered an FIR against those spreading misinformation against us,” Mehta said, adding that such misinformation is a matter of serious concern for 36 lakh dairy farmer families dependent on Amul for their livelihood.
“We never supplied the ghee to the temple. We have lodged an FIR to stop this misinformation,” he said.
A massive political row has erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that animal fat was used in making laddus made Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati during the previous government in the state.
(With PTI inputs)