At the other end of the phone is Shafeeq Hul who identifies himself as Mofijul’s father-in-law. "Yes, Mofijul told us about winning the lottery. I don’t know much about it, but we are happy. Now he’ll be able to build a house and also not have to worry about his daughter’s future," Shafeeq told The News Minute.
22-year old Mofijul Rahaman Sheikh was recently in the news for winning the Kerala state-sponsored Rs. 1 crore worth Karunya lottery on March 5.
Hailing from Uttar Lakshmipur of Malda district in West Bengal, this daily wage worker had landed in Kerala just the previous day in search of work. Mofijul bought the lottery ticket on March 5 from a local vendor in Kozhikode.
The win came as an utter shock to him and he was unsure on what to do next. Scared that the ticket might be taken away from him, he then decided to seek police protection to prevent the loss of his winning ticket.
The Chevayur police were more than glad to be of help. They took him to the Vellimadukunnu SBI branch where he was able to open an account and submit the ticket.
When the Chevayur station was contacted, the police personnel on duty there said all they did was their duty to ensure that no one cheats him of his rightful prize.
Now Mofijul is on his way home and the family expects him to join them by Wednesday evening.
He lives in an extended family set-up with all relatives living close by, says Shafeeq. His family comprises his wife Raseeja and his nine-month old daughter while his parents, two brothers and a sister stay nearby. His in-laws stay at Bardhaman district.
Shafeeq said that the bank manager said that it will take some time for the money to be actually deposited into Mofijul’s account. “Nothing has been decided yet. Hopefully now Mofijul will not have to leave his native place to look for work. Mofijul has not spoken to me about his future plans. First, let him get here.”
The happiness is yet to sink in for both Mofijul and his family. They will have access to the money only if Mofijul is able to produce proof that he had bought the winning lottery ticket from Kerala. And for that he will either have to produce the train ticket from Bengal to Kerala or get affidavits from the job agent who got him to Kerala and the lottery agent who sold him the winning ticket.