Kerala Vigilance Arrests Contractor Over Milma Ghee Diversion
The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested S.S. Binu, a transport contractor accused of arranging the diversion and replacement of premium ghee supplied by the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, known as Milma. The consignments were intended for Sabarimala, one of Kerala’s major Hindu pilgrimage sites.
Investigators said the contractor received the transport agreement for the 2025 pilgrimage season from the Travancore Devaswom Board, the statutory body responsible for administering the temple. Rather than reaching the shrine, about 11,000 litres of certified Milma ghee were allegedly redirected into private black-market channels. The original product was reportedly replaced with cheaper ghee sourced from Tamil Nadu and other locations outside Kerala.
Authorities have estimated the temple board’s direct financial loss at Rs 2.5 crore. The ghee was intended for preparing offerings at Sabarimala. The case has prompted scrutiny of the procedures used to manage dairy consignments after dispatch, including transport custody, depot records and product checks at delivery.
Dairy Development Minister Bindu Krishna confirmed that the department had opened a separate inquiry. The investigation is being led by the Joint Director of Dairy Development and will examine loading manifests, dispatches from depots and verification procedures at cooperative processing facilities.
Vigilance officials are also examining whether procurement officers of the temple board, quality-control inspectors or warehouse personnel assisted the alleged substitution. The investigation follows the arrest of the contractor and concerns the handling of institutional supplies during the previous pilgrimage season.
Milma produces ghee through its butter-churning and ghee-boiling operations and supplies dairy products to institutional customers. Quality testing for ghee can include analysis of fatty-acid profiles, Reichert-Meissl values, Polenske numbers and butyro-refractometer readings, which are used to identify foreign vegetable oils or animal fats. The investigation has raised questions about how certified products were replaced before reaching their destination.
Milma relies on milk collected through cooperative centres from small dairy farmers across Kerala. Ghee and butter are among the higher-value products made from that supply. The case has therefore involved the cooperative federation, the temple board, the state dairy administration and the contractor responsible for transport.
