4.5 kg gold and Rs. 120 crore unaccounted income recovered from evangelist Paul Dhinakaran during raid operations

The Income Tax (I-T) Department has seized gold weighing 4.5 kg and detected unaccounted income to the tune of ₹120 crore from the raids that it had conducted at the residence and offices belonging to evangelist Paul Dhinakaran, who heads the Jesus Calls ministry.“We have recovered 4.5 kg of gold from the residence of Paul Dhinakaran,” a source said, adding some irregularities in investments made by Paul Dhinakaran and his Jesus Calls, a Christian missionary, in various countries. The searches were conducted at the offices and residential premises belonging to Jesus Calls founded by late D G S Dhinakaran and now being run by his son Paul Dhinakaran.

In all, the searches were being conducted in 28 locations in Chennai, Coimbatore, and other towns and cities in Tamil Nadu. The search locations included Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, a Deemed-to-be university, in Coimbatore. Paul Dhinakaran's residence in Chennai; and the head office of Jesus Calls on the Santhome High Road, now renamed as D G S Dhinakaran Salai. Paul Dhinakaran is a prominent evangelist who has a significant base of followers among Christians. He took over Jesus Calls from his father D G S Dhinakaran after his death in 2008. According to the official website of Jesus Calls, the organisation conducts public prayer festivals and broadcasts its message through the media to see people forever changed “through the love and compassion of Jesus Christ.”