Kanyakumari: A week after the results of Vishu Bumper of the Kerala Lotteries Department were announced the jackpot winner has been identified. In fact, two relatives from Kanyakumari are set to share the first prize of Rs 10 crore.
The duo, Dr M Pradeep Kumar and N Ramesh, bought the first prize-winning ticket, bearing number 'HB 727990', when they arrived at the Trivandrum Airport to receive a relative earlier this month.
The ticket was sold near the airport premises by Valiyathura native Rangan and wife Jaseentha after purchasing it from the Chaithanya lucky centre at Pazhavangadi in Thiruvananthapuram.
This draw for the Vishu Bumper lottery was held on May 22. But the lucky winner could not be traced even one week after the lottery draw was held. But on Monday the winners reached the Lottery Directorate at Thiruvananthapuram and met the authorities.
The delay in submitting the ticket was because we were busy with temple festivities at our native place, the winners said.
As the winners are from outside Kerala, they need to furnish to the Lottery authorities the purpose of their previous visit to the State when they happened to buy the ticket. All winners have to provide personal details attested by a notary.
Delay not unprecedented, though
But this was not the first time a lottery winner failed to turn up immediately after the results were announced.
In 2010, the winner of the Vishu Bumper lottery turned up only after two months to claim his prize money. The lucky winner, who had kept the lottery ticket inside a book, came to know about the results during a casual chat with friends. Then the first prize was Rs 2 crore and an Innova car.
Rubber-tapping worker Manoj, a native of Kalady in Ernakulam, had purchased the ticket while he was waiting for the bus after offering prayers at the Triprayar temple in Thrissur in 2010. As Manoj was not in the habit of buying lottery tickets often, he forgot all about the ticket that he had kept in a book.
Newspapers reported about the search for the lucky winner but Manoj, who would leave home early for rubber-tapping work and return late in the night, was unaware of all this.
‘Malayala Manorama’ again reported that the bumper lottery winner remained anonymous even after two months. As his friends discussed this while they were at a house for a wedding, Manoj was reminded about the lottery ticket he had bought. He searched a lot and finally found the ticket inside the book.
Manoj called the agency in Triprayar and asked them if this ticket had won any prize.
Manoj could not believe his luck when he was told that he had won the first prize and that they were waiting for him, the agency owner Jagjeevan recounted.
As two months had lapsed, Manoj had to state the reason for the delay. Once the Lottery Department was convinced, the prize money was handed over. Instead of the car, Manoj received the amount equivalent to the price.
Jagjeevan received Rs 18,92,000 as agency commission.
None to claim
There are several people who did not claim the lottery prizes they had won. During 2016-17, the state government got Rs 105 crore as the winners did not turn up to claim the lottery prize money.
But the Lottery Directorate said that there is no record of the total number of people who have missed out on claiming their prize money.
Once the lottery draw is announced, the ticket has to be submitted within 30 days. Up to 90 days would be allowed in special circumstances.
