Astrologer Nattandiye P.D. Perera committed suicide for having got entangled in foreign employment racket

Astrologer Nattandiye P.D. Perera committed suicide for having got entangled in foreign employment racket

According to inquiries being conducted over the unanticipated demise of Astrologer Nattandiye P.D. Perera as reported last week, more details pertaining to the most prominent reason which contributed for his suicide keeps streaming in by now.

At the time of death astrologer P.D. Perera who was in his 72nd year when he jumped in front of a moving train has thus left his wife all alone by herself. He has had no children. It was understood that

during the period of his demise he had been burdened with serious financial problems. As reported, the primary reason for it is that he had tried to engage in a 'business' which he was not acquainted with and had burnt his fingers in the process.

As an astrologer he has carved a name for himself from the 70s. He was someone who attended to personal astrological work of T.B. Ilangaratna, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaika including other old politicians upto the present minister Rajitha Senaratna. The First Lady has of course been taken up because of an election victory which he had predicted with utmost accuracy well beforehand.

He initially became popular by writing forecasts to newspapers. He even wrote daily forecasts to the Divaina newspaper and was a leading astrological writer for the newspaper. In the meantime, because of his popularity many a person used to come in search of him. As a businessman he enjoyed a satisfactory status. For that very reason he opened up an office close to Nugegoda in Colombo by leaving Nattandiya for the facility of those who visited him.

However, some years back, for having made an incorrect prediction to the effect that Sri Lanka would trounce India in the finals of the world cup faith of his customers began to dwindle at one time. After that he did not contribute to the Divaina newspaper. Writing about Avurudu forecasts and comments on notable changes in planets could be seen in a number of newspapers including Lankadeepa newspaper at a later time.

Prior to the 201 Presidential election he made a prediction that Maithri would become the President. Though his forecast did turn out to be correct, because of incorrect comments which were brought across the media by some astrologers, faith on the entire field of astrology subsequently began to crop up. Because of this bleak period even the office which astrologer P.D. Perera was running at Nugegoda began to be desolated. His mind then began to think of other avenues of income because his income began to drop and had thought of starting a new 'business' and thus cover up his loss of income. It was nothing other than foreign recruitment. Since he did gave good public relationships, he had thought that he could flourish on this trade. He was thus able to thrive on the connections on his clients for this purpose and utilise that angle for his benefit. However he has had no proper know how about management of his newly developed venture as such. In fact he then managed to go through the list of telephone numbers which he had been in touch with for a long period of time and conveyed relevant information about recruiting various persons for employment abroad. Some of those whom he contacted that way had promised that they would inform him if any such persons were there simply because of his ability of forecasting. Consequently various individuals used to come in search of him with the idea of going abroad. They had even gone to the extent of depositing money with him as requested by him. However he made use of those deposits for his ownself and ended up losing all that money. For what he had spent lakhs of money is still not clear.

Though he acquired money by publicising right round that he would send people overseas, he was not able to send anybody overseas as such. It was after that he got trapped in a financial way. His creditors then began to pester him for their money if he was unable to send them abroad. But he was in no way able to pay back the money due to them. In order to get away from them he then began to hide from them. The total amount he had thus accumulated ran into crores of money having obtained 2  lakhs, 30 lakhs and 40 lakhs and so on. A certain person who gave a sum of 27 lakhs happened to lodge an entry with the Criminal Investigation Department and the police had come in search of him. When the complaint was being inquired into, though he had made a pledge that he was not cheating but that he would somehow or other settle the money by the 31st, he really has had no money to pay back on that said date. In this connection he has told his friends that he would definitely get imprisoned and that there is no way out for him.

Mr. P.D. Perera who was seated on the railway track close to Kattuwa railway station in Negombo last 28th finally jumped in front of an express train plying towards Chilaw from Colombo with the motive of putting an end to all his worries. Mr. P.D. Perera who consoled matters by providing solutions about the fate of tens and thousands of people for all that matters, ultimately settled his own fate in that manner.