B Rathnakaran Pillai of Attingal in TVPM won the first prize of Rs 6 crore of Christmas-New Year Bumper LotteryKilimanoor, Thiruvananthapuram: The results of Christmas-New Year Bumper Lottery were announced on Wednesday, but the winner of the first prize of Rs 6 crore went about his business for a day, completely unaware that he had scooped the mega jackpot.
B Rathnakaran Pillai of Rajesh Bhavan, Keezhperoor, Nagaroor near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district, got up early in the morning and went to his sawmill like every other day.
Pillai was busy sawing and cutting wood, when his wife phoned him to pass along the good news: “Come back immediately. We have won the bumper,” she told him with palpable excitement.
The prize-winning ticket was in the pocket of his shirt which he wore the previous day.
The 64-year-old, who is now Rs 6 crore richer, is a former panchayat member of the Nagaroor grama panchayat. He lives with wife Baby, and children Rajesh, Rajeev, Reji, and Rejeesh.
In fact, Pillai had thought of checking the results in newspaper Thursday morning, but he lost interest after somebody told him that the first-prize winner was somewhere from a neighboring village.
So, without ‘wasting time’, he headed to the saw mill. The family came to know that Lady Luck has smiled on them when Baby asked Rajeev to check the results around 4 pm.
The prize-winning ticket – LE 261550 – was surrendered to the SBI’s Ponganadu branch.
For the past 23 years, Rathnakaran Pillai has been running the sawmill which he hired on lease.
The bumper ticket was purchased a month ago from a lottery agent in Pullambara.
“I used to try my luck only occasionally. Before this one, the last ticket I bought was the Onam Bumper,” said Pillai, who has clear plans about the things to do with the prize money.
“First, I will clear all my debts. I also wish to donate three cents of land each to all landless people in Keezhperoor ward. Of my five children, only two own a house. I will build houses for the other three,” he said.
Pillai had made it a habit to purchase tickets only from differently abled or elderly people. “More than winning a prize, I want to help these poor people,” he added.
Pillai, an active Congress worker, had distributed free drinking water in Keezhperoor and nearby areas when the region was under acute water scarcity during the summer months last year. He spent around Rs 1.5 lakh to arrange supply of about 28 lakh liters of water through tanker lorries in five wards.
Bumper winners from same region
Lightning may not strike the same place twice but turns out Lady Luck certainly does! The winners of last year’s and this year’s Christmas-New Year Bumper live at a distance of just about 20 km.
Shaji of Maranamkunnu Sheeja Bhavan, YMA Junction in Maranamkunnu near Pothencode was the last year’s Rs 4-crore Christmas-New Year Bumper winner. The 41-year-old carpenter bought the prize winning ticket from Jesim, a retail agent in Mangalapuram, when he went to collect the prize money of Rs 1,000 he had won from another state-run lottery.
The ticket purchased from the Attingal Bhagavathy lottery agency had no takers as the last three digits were 009 as it was destined to be bought by Shaji.
Local residents were excited when they came to know about the consecutive ‘bumper wins’ in their region.
Last year, the Vishu Bumper winner too was from Attingal. The first prize of Rs 4 crore went to M Rasaludheen, a retired headmaster hailing from Avanavancherry.
Read more: Latest Kerala news | Despite govt circular, RSS chief unfurls tricolor at Palakkad school
