A 58-year-old auto-driver from Ernakulam district of Kerala won the Rs 12 crore Thiruvonam Bumper Lottery on Sunday, 19 September, instituted by the state government.
A resident of Maradu in Kochi, Jayapalan PR was certified as the first prize winner of the lottery after he submitted the original prize-winning ticket at Canara Bank’s Pallinada branch.
Jayapalan will receive around Rs 7.4 crore, after deducting taxes and the agency’s commission, Indian Express reported.
Jayapalan had reportedly bought the ticket on 10 September from Meenakshi Lucky Centre in Thripunithura.
The prize-winning ticket cost him Rs 300 and was picked out as the number sounded “fancy” to him. Jayapalan has won Rs 5,000 on an earlier occasion, and purchases tickets on a regular basis.
After realizing that he was the winner on Sunday afternoon, he told only his son about the ticket. After cross-checking the news in the newspaper on Monday, he went straight to the bank to deposit the ticket.
On being asked what he would do with the money, Jayapalan told a TV channel, “I have some debts that I want to pay off. I also have two ongoing civil cases in the court which I wish to clear. I want to provide good education to my children and financially support my sisters.”
Further, his mother told the channel, “We were floating in debts. If not for this lottery, my son wouldn’t have been able to pay them off. I think God saw my tears and helped us.”
The lottery also had prizes of Rs 1 crore each for six winners, Rs 10 lakh each for 12 winners, Rs 5 lakh each for 12 winners and Rs 1 lakh each for 108 winners, Indian Express reported.
The state government had printed 54 lakh tickets this year for the Thiruvonam bumper lottery, the sales of which amounted to Rs 126 crore this year.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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