THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) special team has arrested two wholesale traders from Tamil Nadu in connection with alleged irregularities in the supply of ghee to the Sabarimala temple during the 2025 pilgrimage season, officials said on Friday.
The arrested have been identified as Venkateswaran and Kumaran, both wholesale ghee traders from Oddanchatram in Tamil Nadu. Their arrest was recorded on Thursday evening, officials said.
According to the VACB, the two traders allegedly purchased ghee that had been diverted by contractor S S Binu, who was entrusted with transporting Milma ghee from the dairy to the Sabarimala shrine under a contract with the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
Milma, a brand under the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), was awarded a contract to supply ghee during the previous Sabarimala season.
Instead of delivering the ghee to the hill shrine, Binu allegedly diverted the stock to the two traders in Oddanchatram and sold it to them for around Rs 50 lakh, officials said.
The VACB alleged that the traders were aware that the ghee was being diverted in violation of the contract conditions.
Payments for the consignments were allegedly made directly in cash to avoid leaving transaction records, officials said.
The agency had earlier arrested Binu for allegedly diverting around 11,000 litres of ghee meant for the temple and replacing it with a cheaper product, causing an estimated loss of Rs 2.5 crore to the TDB.
The VACB had also arrested Jayalal, a TDB employee who was deployed as a supervisor at the Sabarimala store during the last pilgrimage season.
The investigation found that records maintained at the Sabarimala store showed that the entire quantity of ghee had been delivered to the shrine. However, the substitute product allegedly supplied in place of the diverted stock did not reach Sabarimala in its entirety, officials said.
The VACB alleged that Jayalal colluded with Binu by making entries in the registers to show that the ghee had been received at the shrine, even though the entire quantity had not been delivered.
Another TDB employee, who allegedly assisted Binu in the irregularities and worked as a supervisor at the Sabarimala store, is still absconding, officials said.