Income Tax conducted raids at the offices and residences of those associated with Believers Church

KOCHI: The Income Tax department launched simultaneous raids at the offices and residences of those associated with evangelist K P Yohannan’s Believers Eastern Church. Official sources said the raids which began early on Thursday morning were still ongoing. The raids were based on specific inputs on alleged tax evasion and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations conducted by the Thiruvalla-based Church.

Special squads led by senior officials are coordinating the raids at the offices and residences of key persons of the Church situated in Kerala and other states. The Income Tax team is also conducting a search at the medical college hospital run by the institution at Thiruvalla. The details of the raids were yet to be revealed by the Income Tax department. Unconfirmed reports say the officials have seized cash and some documents. The Believers Church has earlier courted controversy after the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2017 barred it and three NGOs associated with it from accepting foreign funds. It has been alleged that the Church had received over Rs 1,000 crore in foreign funds over a period of 18 years.