TIRUPATI: In the ongoing Tirumala Laddu ghee adulteration case, II Additional District Magistrate Court in Tirupati on Thursday granted five days of joint SIT custody to four accused, from February 14 to 18.
The CBI Joint SIT had previously filed a petition in the court three days ago, seeking seven days of custody for the accused. However, after hearing arguments regarding the custody petition, the court allowed only five days of custody.On behalf of the SIT, Public Prosecutor CN Gopinathan (Vijayawada CBI Court) and APP P Jayashekar argued for seven days of custody, stating that the accused had not cooperated with the investigation and had refused to provide key information.
The prosecution emphasised that further investigation could only proceed with the accused in custody to uncover critical facts about the adulteration case. In response, the defence counsel, Supreme Court Advocate Hashana Sukhdev and Tirupati Senior Advocate Vani contested the prosecution’s request.
They argued that the reasons cited by the CBI for further custody were baseless, as their clients had already provided the necessary information to the SIT. The defence also pointed out that those who had received a summons from the SIT were attending the probe.
The SIT is expected to take the accused into custody from the Tirupati Sub Jail for further investigation on Friday morning during office hours.