A composed behaviour, coupled with persuasion skills and in-depth knowledge of Christianity, was good enough for Ganesh Iyer to introduce himself as “Evangelist Dr. John Ganesh”. It was in the early 1970s that he first met Rev. Fr. Michael of Tamil Ilakkiya Kazhagam, posing as a religious researcher studying the roots of Christianity in India. In no time was John Ganesh able to convince a gullible Fr. Michael with his eloquence and voluminous documents that he was fully engaged in researching the origin and growth of Christianity in India and some support from the church would help in expediting his work. He was referred to Fr. Mariadas of Srivilliputtur, who had no idea that the “visiting Professor” was Ganesh Iyer, a native of Srirangam, involved in a couple of cheating cases.
Deep knowledge of Christian theology
A report of the Tamil Nadu police, published in a journal, says, “Fr. Mariadas was no less impressed with John Ganesh’s deep knowledge of Christian theology. He showed him the photographs of some century-old palm-leaf writings and copper-plate inscriptions, which, he claimed, proved the origin and growth of Christianity in India.”
At one point, John Ganesh said he was not able to continue his research and planned to visit Kashmir “where the religion had deep roots”. Carried away by his claims, Fr. Mariadas arranged some funds and referred him to Archbishop Rev. R. Arulappa, the head of the Catholic Church in Madras. Interestingly, Archbishop Arulappa was well-known for his literary activities. He had translated the New Testament into Tamil and also rendered in Tamil the life of Christ (Ulagin Uyir). Besides, he had learnt Sanskrit and translated several Christian tenets into that language. “Since he was interested in research on Christianity, he easily fell for the apparent sincerity of purpose of John Ganesh,” says the police report. The Bishop agreed to fund the ‘research’ depending on its progress and that was how the accused found his “golden goose”.
Thus commenced a fake research in 1975-76. As proof of his work, John Ganesh submitted photocopies of palm-leaf writings and copper-plate inscriptions within a few months. When the Archbishop wanted to see the originals, he claimed they were kept in safe custody at museums and establishments owned by the Departments of Archaeology across the country. Saying it would not be possible to lay hands on the originals, he promised to get the documents attested by the respective museum managers. Weeks later, he produced certificates with fake seals and signatures.
Becoming Acharya Paul
Sensing that he had gained the trust of the Archbishop, John Ganesh found the time appropriate to commence his trip to Kashmir where he proposed to involve himself in research work. After receiving funds, the accused engineered a plan to make the church authorities believe that he was indeed in Kashmir working with their counterparts.
The Archbishop received letters from some Christian and Hindu religious heads in Kashmir informing him that they had met John Ganesh who had now given himself the name Acharya Paul. The letters spoke in superlative terms about his noble research. After two years of “research”, Ganesh Iyer alias John Ganesh alias Acharya Paul was a rich man. He built two bungalows at Srirangam, bought expensive cars, and had a good bank balance, the report said.
Another twist
Then came another twist in the story. The Archbishop trusted John Ganesh so much that he took him to Vatican City during 1977. There, they had an audience with Pope Paul VI. Ganesh lyer used his foreign visits to give lengthy lectures at many religious congregations and churches on comparative religions, the origin of Christianity in India, and his path-breaking research.
The endorsement of the accompanying Archbishop opened up the floodgates of funds for him for further research. “However, the absence of the Archbishop from Madras gave an opportunity to some well-informed church members, led by John Thomas, editor of a daily Swadesamitran, to conduct an inquiry into the activities of the suspect,” wrote G. Senrayaperumal, the then inspector of the Crime Branch-CID, who investigated the case.
A preliminary investigation revealed a cash deficit of ₹14 lakh in the church funds spent in the name of research. The church committee passed a resolution directing the Archbishop to file a case with the police. Accordingly, a complaint was lodged with the CB-CID and a team, led by Mr. Senrayaperumal, searched the house of Ganesh lyer at Srirangam.
Investigators recovered the originals of all the photographs produced by him as proof of his writings. The originals were nothing but mere writings on strips of brown paper cut to resemble medieval palm fronds, pasted on sheets of white paper. The photographs that he had taken at a studio in Tiruchi led to the seizure of the negatives. The police also seized seals, rubber stamps, and letter heads of several institutions that he had reportedly visited.
Ganesh Iyer was arrested on April 29, 1980, on the charges of cheating, forgery, and impersonation. He was also booked under the Passports Act since he had obtained a travel document in the name of Acharya Paul for his visit to Vatican City. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison for offences under the Indian Penal Code and five months under the Passports Act. In his report, ‘Religious research by Acharya Ganesh Paul’ (1975), Mr. Senrayaperumal says the CB-CID had a tricky case to handle. He had to investigate it cautiously without affecting communal sensitivities. “This is a tale of fraud, with comical touches, in which a pious church leader was taken for a ride by a crook. Unfortunately, the gullibility of the Archbishop caused a loss of nearly 14 lakh of rupees to the Madras-Mylapore Archdiocese. A fairly big sum in the mid-1970s, when gold was sold at around $400 per sovereign.”
