COLOMBO: Astrologer Vijitha Rohana Wijemuni, a former Sri Lankan naval sailor who shot into infamy for hitting Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle butt at a Guard of Honour on July 30, 1987 and who made a career of astrology since, was arrested for predicting the death of President Maithripala Sirisena and released on bail.

Astrologer Wijemuni was arrested by the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigations Department on Tuesday on charges of circulating a video forecasting the death of President Maithripala Sirisena and released on bail on Wednesday.

Following the release from prison in the Rajiv Gandhi assault case, Wijemuni had been practicing astrology, frequently appearing on television and using social media to publicise his predictions.

In the year 2000, Wijemuni was a candidate of the nationalist political party, the Sihala Urumaya in the general election.

In December last year he used the social media to announce his prediction about President Sirisena’s death by a specific date and announced he would stop astrology if his prediction was proven false.

On Dec 21 the then Secretary to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Mass Media Nimal Bopage called upon the Sri Lankan police to investigate a potential assassination plot on the president allegedly devised by the ‘‘cyber-youtube-astrologer’’.

Published in Dawn February 2nd, 2017