From credit to jackpot: Honest lottery agent helps Wayanad bus conductor win ₹1 cr

Kalpetta: When the Kerala State Lottery Department announced the winners of the Dhanalakshmi lottery on Wednesday, a private bus conductor here emerged as the lucky winner of the first prize — ₹1 crore — without having spent a single rupee. Jayesh, the conductor, had purchased the ticket on Monday but left it with the lottery agent as he had no money to pay at the time.

Displaying exemplary honesty, Arosh Kiran, the agent at Amma Lottery at the New Bus Stand here, kept the ticket safe and later informed Jayesh, a native of Karani near Meenangadi, that his ticket had won the first prize.

Arosh told Onmanorama that when his staff first informed Jayesh about the win, he thought it was a prank. “He only believed it when I personally called him and asked him to come immediately to the counter and take the ticket to the bank,” Arosh said.

Both men had actually forgotten about the ticket. It was only when the Kerala Lottery office informed the agency that ticket number DA 807900, sold by Arosh, had bagged the first prize, they began searching for it among the unsold tickets — only to discover it was missing.

“Much later, I remembered Jayesh had purchased a ticket and kept it here,” Arosh said. At the shop, it was common practice for customers without money to reserve their preferred ticket number and pay later.

“Normally, if the buyer hasn’t paid by 12 noon on the day of the draw, we sell the ticket before 3 pm,” Arosh explained. “But in this case, we all forgot about it. Still, I knew I had to give him the ticket because it was rightfully his.”

By the time Jayesh, who was on a bus trip, reached the ticket counter, the manager of the South Indian Bank’s Kalpetta branch was also present. The initial formalities were completed there, with the rest finalised later at the bank.

“For me, it is still unbelievable,” said Jayesh. “Though I had bought tickets before, I never won more than ₹5,000.” As for his immediate plans, the bachelor said he would buy a plot of land and renovate his old house.

Arosh, originally from Koothuparamba in Kannur district, has been running his lottery agency in Kalpetta for more than a decade. As the selling agent, Arosh will receive around ₹9.5 lakh as commission, while Jayesh will take home around ₹68 lakh after taxes and agent commissions.