Controversial evangelist K A Paul was arrested on Monday in connection with the 2010 murder of his brother Daniel Raju.

The police arrested Paul for allegedly trying to bribe a police official to stage a fake encounter to kill his close aide Koteshwara Rao, the prime suspect in the murder. Rao and two other accused are out on bail.

The police said Rao was blackmailing Paul ever since Raju was found dead under mysterious circumstances in 2010 after a property dispute with his brother. Sources said Rao told Paul that he would tell the police that it was Paul who hired him.

Paul allegedly approached a police inspector and offered him Rs one crore to eliminate Rao. He gave the officer Rs 3 lakhs as advance, which was recorded by a spy camera.

Paul runs the organisation Global Peace Initiative and in 2007, launched a political party, the Praja Shanti Party.

Prakasam SP Raghuram Reddy said Paul was charged under IPC sections 120 B (for hatching criminal conspiracy to abduct) and 307 (attempt to murder). He is also facing a charge under Prevention of Corruption Act. "We arrested Paul for hatching a conspiracy to get Koteswara Rao eliminated,'' Reddy said.

Paul was in Ongole to campaign for his party for the June 12 by-elections. He was produced in a local court which remanded him to 12 days judicial custody. Known for his eccentric behaviour, including the purchase of a Boeing 747 using funds he collected as an evangelist, Paul conducted a number of programmes throughout the year in the state.

He locked horns with late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in October 2008 alleging that the latter was promoting his son-in-law Brother Anil, also an evangelist, in opposition to him. He alleged that Reddy sought Rs 20 crore as election fund to let him continue his activities.

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