Six salespersons working at a jewellery shop in Karunagappally had the biggest surprise of their lives when they emerged winners of the Thiruvonam Bumper, a lottery carrying the highest prize money so far in the history of Kerala State Lotteries.
The ticket, TM 160869, they purchased from a vendor opposite their shop fetched them a whopping ₹12 crore when the results were declared on Thursday afternoon.
The lucky friends include Vivek from Vaikkom, Rajeevan from Chavara, Ramjin from Sasthamcotta, Ratheesh from Thekkumbhagom, and Subin Thomas and Ronnie from Thrissur.
Ronnie said they were not expecting the bumper prize and the feeling was yet to sink in. Most of them were in the habit of buying lottery tickets and they had bought two tickets, each contributing ₹100 this time.
“We were not expecting this and so we don’t have any future plans as of now. It will be decided later,” said Rajeevan.
They will receive ₹7.56 crore after tax deduction and the agency commission is 10% of the prize money.
Record ticket sales
Over 46 lakh Thiruvonam Bumper lottery tickets were sold this year, which is a record.
The high prize money of ₹12 crore is being cited as one of the reasons for the high ticket sales. The returns and profit from the sales are being estimated, Lottery Department sources said.
Other than the regulars who purchase tickets individually and in groups, large number of migrant labourers has also contributed to the increase in ticket sales.
