India TV Fact Check: A picture has been going viral on social media, claiming that the company supplying ghee for 'prasadam' (laddus) to the Tirupati Balaji temple is from Pakistan. However, when India TV fact checked this claim, it proved to be completely false.
The quality of laddus at the Tirupati temple came under national spotlight after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently claimed that substandard ingredients and animal fats were used in making the laddus under the previous YSRCP government. YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has denied all charges.
What is going viral?
A picture widely circulating on social media shows the names of several people working for a company called AR Foods Private Limited, with their locations marked as Pakistan. The picture is being shared on social media with the claim that the company that supplied ghee for the laddu to Tirupati Balaji temple is from Pakistan. One viral post states, "The following are the names of the top management of the Tamil Nadu company that supplies desi ghee to Tirupati Balaji." The post also includes screenshots of employees' names, all from Pakistan.
India TV investigated
As the picture was going viral rapidly on social media with a claim that it was a Pakistani company instead of a Tamil Nadu company, so we decided to investigate the claim. During this investigation, when we saw the data of both companies on the website 'OpenCorporates', which maintains a database of companies, the facts became clear. The company allegedly linked to supplying ghee to the temple was 'A R Foods Private Limited', a Pakistani firm. However, the Tamil Nadu company which supplied ghee to the Tirupati Balaji temple is named 'AR Dairy Food Private Limited', which bears a similar name but is entirely different.
What came out in the fact check?
A fact check conducted by India TV has debunked the claim associated with a viral picture circulating on social media. The image, which showed the profiles of employees from a Pakistani company, was falsely linked to a Tamil Nadu-based company. India TV's investigation revealed that the posts circulating this misinformation were misleading, and people are urged to be cautious about such content.
