Little would Shenkottai-native lottery seller Sharafudeen have known when a bunch of tickets went unsold that one of them would fetch him the first prize of ₹12 crore of the government-operated Kerala Christmas New Year Bumper Lottery.
Mr. Sharafudeen emerged the winner of the lottery when he arrived at the Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries with the winning-ticket, bearing the number XG 358753. The winner, who hails from Ayoor in Kollam, has settled in Tamil Nadu since his childhood. While he worked abroad until four years ago, he took to farming and lottery sales since his return. The winning ticket was part of a batch that he had purchased from an agency in Aryankavu. He is expected to receive ₹7.56 crore after the deduction of tax and the agent’s commission.
While he has won smaller amounts through lottery, Mr. Sharafudeen had never expected to win such a huge amount, he said, adding he has not decided on how to utilise the prize money. Besides his wife and a son, he also has been supporting two brothers and their mother.
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