A 32-year-old autorickshaw driver from Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday won the whopping ₹25 crore first prize of the Thiruvonam bumper lottery run by the State Lotteries Department.
Lady luck smiled on B. Anoop, a resident of Sreevaraham, who had purchased the winning ticket (no. TJ 750605) on Saturday evening. The ticket was among the last on sale at the Bhagavathy Lottery Agencies, Pazhavangadi. The second prize of ₹5 crore went to ticket No. TG 270912 in Kollam district. The third prize of ₹1 crore each went to 10 people.
Net prize of ₹15 crore
Once the formalities are completed, Mr. Anoop will be able to take home approximately ₹15 crore after deduction of 10% agent’s commission and tax. Of the 67.5 lakh tickets printed this year, 66,55,914 tickets were sold, a senior official of Lottery department said.
Reacting to the windfall, Mr. Anoop told reporters that he had been planning to leave for Malaysia shortly to work as a chef. He said he would use the prize money to settle his debts and help his relatives. His family also plans to buy a house using the money.
Incidentally, Mr. Anoop was in two minds about buying a ticket which cost ₹500. He finally decided to try his luck, purchasing a single ticket on Saturday evening. To make up the ticket cost, he had also borrowed ₹ 50 from his child's piggy bank.
Double the prize
The draw was a keenly awaited as the State government had hiked the first prize of the Thiruvonam bumper from ₹12 crore last year to ₹25 crore, the heftiest prize money in the history of Kerala State Lotteries.
Once the results were in, Mr. Anoop initially thought he had missed the jackpot by a single digit, but a closer scrutiny by his wife Maya proved otherwise. After the news broke, friends and relatives thronged his residence to congratulate him.
Later, Mr. Anoop and Ms. Maya rode an autorickshaw to the Bhagavathy Lottery Agencies, where they were greeted by an army of media personnel and agency officials.
A slice of history
The Kerala government established a department for the conduct of paper lotteries in 1967. The very first lottery ticket cost ₹1 and carried a first prize of ₹50,000. The first draw was held on January 26, 1968. In 1973, the Onam bumper offered a first prize of ₹5 lakh.
