Eight persons, including former chief of Manmul, arrested in ₹3 crore milk powder scam
The main accused, Pradeep Kumar Jadhav, who works as Purchase Officer at Manmul, had allegedly connived with Shivakumar, the former Chairman and present Director of Manmul, to divert skimmed milk powder and sell it to private individuals.
Eight individuals, including former Mandya Milk Union Limited (Manmul) Chairman U.C. Shivakumar, have been arrested in connection with an alleged ₹3 crore milk powder scam. The investigation was initiated following a complaint lodged at Maddur police station on August 30, 2026, by Ashwini, Assistant Manager in Manmul's Quality Assurance Department. Ashwini alleged the shortage and adulteration of Manmul's milk powder stock, as well as the demand for action against the accused Manmul employees.
The police registered the case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and began an investigation. Superintendent of Mandya district police V.J. Shobharani revealed that the main accused, 44-year-old former Manmul Purchase Officer Pradeep Kumar Jadhav, allegedly conspired with Shivakumar to divert skimmed milk powder and sell it to private individuals.
Jadhav's interrogation revealed that Manmul's production unit bags of skimmed milk powder were secretly loaded onto transportation vehicles and transported to a godown in Gejjalagere Industrial Area for sale.
Upon suspicion of smuggling, an internal audit conducted by Manmul exposed a shortage of 110.4 tonnes of milk powder stock. To explain the shortage, the accused allegedly brought 54.9 tonnes of milk powder bags and repackaged them. The remaining 55.5 tonnes of milk powder stock shortage was discovered. Considering that 1 kg of skimmed milk powder is valued at about ₹300, the estimated loss to Manmul is more than ₹3 crore, involving 1.1 lakh kg of milk powder.
The arrested individuals include Shivakumar, Jadhav, Manmul system operator Shruthi, worker Ravi, godown loader and unloader Srinivasa R.S., former head of the milk powder production unit Srinivasamurthy, former Manmul milk powder production unit owner Suresh V.K., contractor Suresh U.G., Kerala-based VKS Marketing proprietor Suresh U.G., and deceased accused Nideesh Kumar. Deputy Manager and Head of Manmul's Milk Powder unit T Sriramakrishna is currently at large.
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