Controversial Evangelist K.A. Paul arrested in India

The Andhra Pradesh police on Monday arrested controversial Indian-born evangelist Kilari Anand (K.A.) Paul, president and founder of Global Peace Initiative (GPI), and two of his associates in a case of conspiracy to murder, reports James Varghese, Special Correspondent in India for ASSIST News Service, and Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries, Special to ASSIST News Service.

According to the Times of India, Raghurami Reddy, Superintendent of Police, Prakasam, said that Paul was charged under IPC sections 120 B (for hatching criminal conspiracy to abduct) and 307 (attempt to murder). In addition, he is facing a charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The story said that police had said that Paul had tried to eliminate Koteswara Rao, the main accused in the case related to murder of Paul's brother, David, whose body was found in Mahaboobnagar in 2010. News sources said that police have alleged that a dispute between two brothers over property led to the murder.

David was found dead on a highway in 2010 under mysterious circumstances. “Paul was arrested for conspiring to eliminate Koteswara. He had tried to lure a police official by offering a bribe to kill Koteswara in a (fake) encounter,” Reddy said.

“Paul is also facing a charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Reddy added.

Evangelist Paul was picked up from Ongole town in Prakasam district in the morning and was remanded to judicial custody after he was produced in a local court. He was in Ongole town to campaign for his political party “Praja Shanthi Party” (Citizen’s Peace Party) for the ensuing by-elections.

The evangelist came into news after he alleged that Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, had demanded a large amount of money from him for election funds. Paul said he had refused to pay the money and later floated his own party.

“My arrest is part of a conspiracy to scuttle the political prospects of my party, Praja Shanthi, in the ensuing elections,” Paul told reporters on his way to jail, after he was remanded to judicial custody by a local court.

Originally named Anand Kilari, he was born into a poor Hindu family on September 25, 1963, in a small village called Chittivalsa in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. His mother and father were Barnabas and Santhosamma.

His parents converted to Christianity in 1966 and Paul became a Christian in March 1971, when he was eight years old. Paul claims to have travelled with his self-styled evangelist father to hundreds of villages in India sharing the gospel to many non-Christians. At the age of 19 Paul claimed that he felt a calling and entered into the full-time ministry and later became a naturalized American citizen.

In 2005, the US-based Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability terminated the membership of Paul's organization for failing to meet financial accountability and governance standards. Financial details of his ministries are listed by Ministry Watch (http://ministrywatch.com), the independent source for ministry ratings.

K.A. Paul returned to India in September 2007 to help change India's government. He is often considered a controversial figure, and has had allegations of wrongdoing leveled by detractors, including his brother.

He appeared publicly with Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who had planned to burn copies of the Koran as a protest against the building of a mosque close to Ground Zero in New York. They together gave the Imam of the planned mosque two hours notice to contact them over the pending Koran burning. Paul stated that “I have requested and pleaded with pastor not to burn the Koran.”

Voice of the Gospel Christian Radio - Radio Stimme des Evangeliums

Dienstag, 22. Mai 2012

ASIA | MINISTRIES Controversial Evangelist K.A. Paul arrested in India

Controversial Evangelist K.A. Paul arrested in India

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