Little did six salespersons of Chungath jewellery store in Kerala’s Kollam district know that the lottery ticket which all of them bought together just two days ago would fetch them Rs 12 crore on Thursday.
The much awaited results of the Thiruvonam bumper or the Kerala Onam Bumper lottery as it is popularly known as, were announced around 2 pm on Thursday, where the winner was awarded with Rs 12 crore, while the second and third prize fetched Rs 50 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively.
Rajeevan, Ramjim, Rony, Vivek, Subin and Ratheesh, who work as salespersons at Chungath jewellery couldn’t believe their luck when their lottery ticket number TM160869 was announced as the winner.
According to a report by Asianet News, the group of six friends said that even as they plan to use the money which they have won for their own personal needs, they would also be using it for social service and charity. Although the amount for the winner is Rs 12 crore, the total amount they would be receiving in hand is Rs 7.56 crore after deduction of taxes.
The prize-winning amount of the ticket which was sold to the six salespersons by Sivankutty, an Alappuzha based lottery agent, is also the highest in the history of the Onam Bumper lottery over the years. The second prize worth Rs 50 lakh was won by 10 persons.
As per reports, around 43 lakh tickets out of the total 46 lakh were sold, and the Kerala government has earned around Rs 29 crore just with the sale of these lottery tickets. The sale of lottery tickets is one of the major mediums of cash inflow for the Kerala government which also organises other festival bumper draws such as Vishu, Christmas and Pooja/Dussehra. Apart from these, the government also has two seasonal jackpots - monsoon and summer bumper lottery.