Evangelist comes under I-T Dept. lens

The Income-Tax Department on Wednesday knocked on the door of evangelist Paul Dhinakaran, who heads the Jesus Calls ministry, on suspicion of tax evasion. At least 28 premises belonging to the group in Chennai and Coimbatore came under the tax officials’ lens.

In Coimbatore, the Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences was also searched. Mr. Dhinakaran is the Chancellor of the institute, which was founded in 1986 by his late father and preacher D.G.S. Dhinakaran. A few other educational institutions and development centres run by the group were also searched.

Sources in the I-T Department said the primary reason for conducting the searches was to check if there had been any tax evasion. The I-T officials are also looking into the foreign funds the group had received through various sources.

“We suspect that the group has not disclosed details pertaining to the foreign funds it had received,” a source said. When details of seizures were sought, he said, “Since it is a large group, we will be able to provide details only after the searches are completed.” The searches continued late into Wednesday evening, and are expected to go on for another day.

Jesus Calls collects donations under various schemes and plans, which it offers on its website. Mr. Dhinakaran also produces the prayer time TV programme, which is telecast globally.