By Matters India Reporter

Chennai: The Income Tax department on January 20 raided 28 places in Tamil Nadu connected to renowned evangelist Paul Dhinakaran and his missionary organization “Jesus Calls.”

The raids were reportedly conducted on the basis of complaints of tax evasion and foreign funds irregularities.

Paul Dhinakaran, son of the late televangelist Duraisamy Geoffery Samuel Dhinakaran, or DGS Dhinakaran, has a large follower base in Tamil Nadu. He also manages several educational and charitable organizations in the southern Indian state.

Premises targeted included the Coimbatore-based Karunya Institute of Technology and Science, and Jesus Calls organization in Chennai, the state capital. Both were started by Paul Dhinakaran’s family.

According to the Jesus Calls website, “The Jesus Calls TV ministry, telecasts 400 programs a month, in 10 different languages across the globe, containing real life stories from people who have overcome their troubles through faith and prayer along with hope.”

Paul Dhinakaran is also chancellor of Karunya Institute of Technology in India, “founded in 1986 where 8,000 students study Science and Technology, Engineering, Arts, Media, and Management courses.”

Details of the raid results are awaited.

Dhinakaran is the second Pentecostal Church leader in India to be targeted by the Income Tax department.

On November 5, 2020, the department raided the institutions of Metropolitan Archbishop Athanasius Yohan 1, or K P Yohannan, head of the Believers Eastern Church and Gospel Asia.

The raids at various places in India reportedly unearthed more than 5 billion rupees, allegedly unaccounted. The tax officials seized 5.7 million rupees from a car parked outside the headquarters of Yohannan’s Church, based in Thiruvalla, Kerala.

Simultaneous raids were carried out at the offices and residences of several persons associated with the Church, inside and outside Kerala. Among the sites raided were the church headquarters, a medical college hospital, and the residence of the metropolitan.

The tax officers attributed the surprise raids to some ‘specific inputs’ on tax evasion and unauthorized foreign transactions.