Auto driver planning to go to Malaysia to work as chef wins Kerala's biggest lottery

An auto-rickshaw driver, who was planning to go to Malaysia to find work as a chef, is the winner of Kerala's biggest lottery this year.

Anoop in Thiruvananthapuram won the Rs 25 crore first prize when the results of the Onam bumper lottery were announced on Sunday.


He had bought the ticket only a day earlier, and it was the second ticket he chose - having providentially returning the first ticket he picked because he was not happy with it.

"I was not watching the lottery results on TV. However, when I checked my phone, I saw that I had won. I could not believe it and showed it to my wife. She confirmed that it was the winning number," he told the PTI.

Anoop has been buying lottery tickets for the last 22 years and has won amounts ranging from a few hundreds to a maximum of Rs 5,000 in the past.
"I will again buy lottery tickets," he told journalists who asked him whether he could continue doing that.

After taxes are deducted, Anoop would probably take home around Rs 15 crore. With that money he would build a house, pay off his debts and help some of his relatives.

Anoop had applied for a Rs 3 lakh bank loan ahead of his Malaysia tip, but now he won't be needing it. He won't be travelling to Malysia either.