From an operational and illicit supply chain perspective, police investigations revealed how subsidized cooperative dairy commodities were systematically siphoned into private food manufacturing channels. According to investigators, accused partners Vijesh and Anas operated a commercial bakery products manufacturing unit at Thubinakere near Mandya town. The duo was allegedly recruited into the procurement network by prime accused Pradeep Kumar Jadhav, who offered them commercial-grade skimmed milk powder at steep discounts below wholesale market clearing prices. Operating through off-the-books transactions, the bakery proprietors reportedly purchased several metric tons of the diverted Manmul powder to incorporate as a low-cost milk solid ingredient across their commercial baking lines.

The mechanics of the diversion scheme highlight severe inventory control and warehousing vulnerabilities within regional dairy cooperative logistics. Police suspect that subsidized milk powder stocks earmarked strictly for authorized institutional tender holders and state nutrition programs were illegally diverted from Manmul’s Gejjalegere storage network and routed to private commercial buyers, generating substantial illicit cash margins for the syndicate. To conceal the physical inventory deficit of roughly 57 to 110 metric tons during routine internal audits, perpetrators allegedly procured lower-grade external powders and adulterants to repackage into official bags at private warehouses. The irregularities first surfaced following surprise inspections by Food Safety and Drug Administration officials in June 2026 and a formal criminal complaint lodged at the Maddur police station on August 30, 2026.

From a cooperative governance and balance sheet standpoint, preliminary police findings indicate that the illicit diversion network may have operated undetected across several years, inflicting substantial cumulative financial losses on the district milk union. While two Manmul officials were initially suspended following the discovery of the 57-tonne stock discrepancy, the ongoing criminal probe has exposed a broader failure in the segregation of duties between inventory auditing, quality assurance, and tender dispatch. With one suspect, Niresh Kumar NVK, having passed away in early September and deputy manager of quality assurance Ramakrishna T previously listed as absconding, investigators are expanding forensic financial audits to trace the full volume of missing stock and quantify the exact balance sheet damage absorbed by the union.