Sri Lanka arrests astrologer for depressing political forecast

Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a popular astrologer after he made" serious" political and economic predictions in a pro-opposition weekly that were unfavorable to government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, police said today. Police Spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera said astrologer Chandrasiri Bandara was taken into custody yesterday following intense questioning about his weekly astrological column in the Sinhalese-language'Irudina' weekly.

"He is being questioned by Criminal Investigation Department officials," the spokesman said, adding the predictions were" serious" and caused concern among authorities. Bandara predicted in the pro-opposition weekly that a planetary change on October 8 was unfavorable to the ruling People's Alliance of the President despite its current popularity following the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. The crushing of the Tigers last month has made the government more popular and prompted it to go for snap local elections to its key bodies soon. However, astrologer Bandara predicted that the country would be beset with economic and political problems towards the end of this year. He also predicted a gloomy and dangerous period for journalists in Sri Lanka, which is already one of the most dangerous places for scribes with over a dozen of them killed in the past few years.