THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch wing of the police will investigate the alleged irregularities in the supply of ghee to Sabarimala, Health and Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan has said.
The government had earlier assigned Devaswom secretary M G Rajamanickam to submit a report on the corruption allegations related to the ghee supply.
“The report contains shocking findings. A letter has been sent to the Home Department seeking a Crime Branch probe,” he said in a statement on Friday. The lapses in Sabarimala’s ghee supply amount to criminal negligence. The guilty will be brought before the law. The CB investigation must be completed in a time-bound manner and those responsible should be identified,” he added.
According to the minister, the Travancore Devaswom Board had a contract with Milma to supply 1,65,000 litres of ghee for 2025-26. Of this 1,50,000 litres were supplied in 30 batches of 5,000 litres each. The rest remains undelivered. Of the delivered batches, only six could be tested and all six were found substandard, he said.
Muraleedharan said it was not merely a case of food adulteration but amounted to “cheating, deceiving and exploiting devotees”. The manner in which the ghee was transported from Milma to Sabarimala must also be investigated. The investigation should find out whether the irregularity occurred before or after the ghee reached Sabarimala.
The minister said the government will ensure such an incident does not recur. Henceforth, ghee used at Sabarimala will be tested batch-wise. In case of outside procurement, its movement will be digitally tracked from the manufacturing unit to the delivery point. A digital movement register will be maintained across the supply chain, he said.