It’s aptly said, “every ending is a new beginning”. In what may surprise many, a lottery vendor in Kollam, Kerala, became a crorepati overnight as an unsold lottery ticket won the first prize of Rs 12 crore in the state government’s Christmas-New Year bumper issue.
The ticket was among the unsold bumper tickets which the lottery vendor Sharafudeen A, hailing from Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi, purchased from a wholesale dealer.
Sharafudeen’s delight knew no bounds when he came to know that the ticket with him among other unsold ones has bagged the top prize.
Sharafudeen, who returned from Riyadh in 2013 after slogging there for nine years doing odd jobs, lives in a small house on ‘poramboke’ (government) land at Eravidharmapuram near Aryankavu in Kollam district.
“I want to build a house of my own, clear my debts and start a small business with the prize amount,” PTI quoted Sharafudeen as saying.
The lottery vendor was finding it tough to take care of his six-member joint family, especially during the novel COVID-19 pandemic. The 46-year-old’s family comprises his mother, two brothers, wife and son.
Sharafudeen produced the winning ticket before the Lottery Directorate on Tuesday. He would get about Rs 7.50 crore after 30 per cent tax deduction and 10 per cent agent commission in the prize money, PTI quoted sources as saying.
