PATHANAMTHITTA: An amount of Rs 5 crore has been seized in the raid conducted by the income tax department in offices of Believers Church all over the state. A raid related to a financial dealing of 100 crore is still continuing. The officials seized unaccounted money worth more than 57 lakh yesterday from the boot of a car parked on the premises of the church headquarters.

The officials of the IT department said the church authorities diverted the funds from abroad. A raid was conducted in some school and colleges run by the church and offices of the trust and house of Bishop K P Yohanan.

Some documents pertaining to the financial transactions of the religious establishment too were seized by the team. The officers attributed the surprise raids to some specific inputs on tax evasion and unauthorised foreign transactions.

Apart from the officials in Kerala, the inspection team also includes officials from other states. The bank accounts of one of the executives of the firms were frozen a few days ago due to non-compliance with the procedures for accepting financial help.