I-T raids at premises owned by prominent evangelist Paul Dhinakaran

Income Tax sleuths on Wednesday swooped down on 28 premises belonging to 'Jesus Calls', an organisation that preaches Christianity, across Tamil Nadu for suspected tax evasion.

Sources in the I-T department said the raids that began on Wednesday morning were underway till the time of writing. The searches were being 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 town 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.

Sources said the raids were being conducted to check whether Jesus Calls, Karunya Institute, and other organisations run by Paul Dhinakaran and his family are evading tax. The sources added that the I-T sleuths are also looking into any Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the organisations owned by Paul Dhinakaran.

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 in order to see people forever changed “through the love and compassion of Jesus Christ".