According to the FIR, the accused spread a rumour that ghee sold under the ‘Amul’ brand was used in making laddus which were later distributed as ‘prasad’ at the Tirupati temple.
Action has been taken against 7 people for spreading rumors that the poor quality ghee used to make laddus in Tirupati temple is of ‘Amul’ brand. Police have registered an FIR against seven users of social media platform ‘X’.
A major political controversy has erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that animal fat was used in making laddus at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati during the previous government in the state.
The Anand-based Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its milk and dairy products under the brand name ‘Amul’, has denied supplying ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the temple.
According to the FIR, seven ‘X’ users, with an intent to damage the reputation of GCMMF, spread false information that the ghee mixed with animal fat used for making laddus at the Tirupati Balaji temple was of the ‘Amul’ brand, an official of the cyber crime police station said.
According to the FIR, the accused spread rumours that ghee sold under the ‘Amul’ brand was used to make laddus that were later distributed as ‘prasad’ at the Tirupati temple, thereby damaging the reputation of the cooperative organisation. The FIR was registered at the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police Station.
The accused have been charged under sections 336 (4) (forgery with intent to harm the reputation of any party) and 196 (1) (a) (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, etc.) of the Indian Penal Code (BNS).
According to the official, the police have also included provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act in the FIR.
GCMMF issued a clarification on its ‘X’ account on Friday night, saying it had never supplied ‘Amul’ ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.
It said, “We would also like to clarify that ‘Amul’ Ghee is made from milk in our state-of-the-art production centres, which are ISO-certified. ‘Amul’ Ghee is made from high-quality pure milk cream… This post is being issued to stop the propaganda campaign against ‘Amul’.
GCMMF Managing Director Jayen Mehta said that some people are spreading misinformation that poor quality ghee used in the Tirupati temple was supplied by ‘Amul’. Mehta said, “The cyber crime police station has registered an FIR against those who spread misinformation regarding us.” He said that such misinformation is a matter of serious concern for the 36 lakh dairy farmer families dependent on ‘Amul’ for their livelihood. Mehta claimed, “We have never supplied ghee to the (Tirupati) temple. We have lodged an FIR to stop this propaganda campaign.”
