HC withholds ₹20 cr Xmas-New Year bumper lottery 2025 prize as Kerala ex-cop claims ticket ‘stolen’

Kochi: In a narrative that sounds more like a high-stakes thriller movie than a legal filing, a retired Kerala police officer has moved the High Court to recover a multi-crore prize-winning lottery ticket, rather specifically saying - the ticket (No: XC138455) that won the 2026 Kerala Christmas-New Year Bumper prize of ₹20 cr- which he claims belonged to him was accidentally shipped inside a container of sacred ghee from Sabarimala and subsequently stolen by courier staff through a series of almost unbelievable misfortunes.

​The petitioner, Sajimon KK, 57, a veteran cop with 25 years of service and retired as an ASI and a resident of Pazhoor in Piravom,  finds himself at the centre of a case that stretches the limits of probability. While the sequence of events, involving a head injury, a Sabarimala pilgrimage, and a “drowsy” trip to a courier office, may seem hard to believe, the formal petition he filed, backed by magistrate-ordered seizures of CCTV footage and a desperate plea for justice, has been accepted by the High Court, which has now ordered the state lottery department to withhold the prize distribution until further orders. Also, the court sought the details of the ticket that was submitted to the lottery department and the person who submitted it.

The story began on December 10, 2025. Sajimon, who had invested his retirement funds into a 17-seater contract carrier tempo traveller to transport Sabarimala pilgrims, discovered a steel carrier vessel left behind in his vehicle after a trip. Inside was “Ghee Abhisheka Prasadam,” a sacred offering to the deity that Sabarimala pilgrims bring back home. One of the pilgrims might have forgotten it in the van. 

According to the petition, Sajimon kept the container in a carry bag safely near the Pooja room, near the photo of Lord Ayyappa at his house, eventually tracking down the owner, Bengara Naidu, in Visakhapatnam. Naidu told him to keep it safe as his relatives would come to Sabarimala on January 14 for Makaravilakku again, and they would collect it, and he agreed.

In a move that would later become the centre of the dispute and one he likely regrets now, Sajimon, a regular purchaser of Kerala Lotteries, prayed that he should win the bumper prize and placed his 2025 Christmas Bumper Lottery ticket inside the carry bag containing the sacred ghee vessel. He did this for “good luck”, believing the proximity to the prasadam might invite divine favour. He claimed he had also written his name, address and phone number on the backside of the ticket.

But on January 21, Naidu requested Sajimon to send the ghee through courier as his relatives could not make the Sabarimala trip. Sajimon agreed to send the same through courier.

On January 24, 2026, the very day the lottery results were set to be published, Sajimon was supervising a drinking water pipeline project in his locality. In a freak accident, he “accidentally fell face down into the pipe pit”, hitting his head and face so hard that he lost consciousness. The petition describes a harrowing recovery. Although he regained consciousness, he remained in a “drowsy state for almost a week”. 

Speaking to Onmanorama, Sajimon said that though he realised his lottery ticket won the bumper prize, due to the drowsiness, he could not recollect where he placed that ticket safely. “My wife Rajama and I searched for it everywhere but could not find it,” Sajimon said.

It was during this period of severe disorientation and “drowsiness” that Naidu reached out, requesting the ghee be sent via courier. On January 30, 2026, still suffering from the effects of the fall, Sajimon took the carry bag to a DTDC courier service in Piravom. His petition notes a specific detail: he did not pack the container himself because he “did not know how to pack a steel container containing a semi-liquid substance like ghee... without leaking”.

The courier staff charged him ₹390 and assured him they would pack it securely. In his confused state, Sajimon handed over the bag without removing the lottery ticket, which he had previously signed on the back with his name and address.

The “fog” of the injury cleared shortly after he left the office. Realising his mistake, Sajimon frantically called the courier office to cancel the order. On February 2, he visited in person, where a male and two female staff members allegedly assured him the parcel would be intercepted. They even showed him a register where they had marked “return” in red ink.

However, the petition alleges this was a “malicious” cover-up. On February 4, Sajimon contacted Naidu, who confirmed the parcel had arrived “intact”.

But there was a catch. Naidu informed him that while the steel vessel was there, “there was no carry bag inside the parcel box” He even sent photos of the vessel via Whatsapp. Sajimon instantly realised that the staff had allegedly seen the prized ticket during the packing process and pocketed it.

The legal battle gathered pace soon after. On February 4, a formal complaint was lodged at the Piravom Police Station. Two days later, on February 6, a representation was submitted to the Lottery Department urging it not to release the prize money to anyone else. Dissatisfied with what he described as “slow” police action, Sajimon approached the Judicial First-Class Magistrate Court in Piravom on February 7, following which the court issued a search and seizure order for the courier office’s CCTV footage.

The petition now before the High Court expresses a desperate fear. “The petitioner apprehends that by the time the police complete the investigation and justice is done to him, the thief will claim the lottery prize by producing the ticket. If such a situation arises, the petitioner will cause irreparable injuries and untold hardships and deep sorrow to the petitioner,” said the petition filed on February 18.

Sajimon is seeking a Writ of Mandamus to freeze the distribution of the 1st prize of the Christmas Bumper 2025. Considering his case on Friday, the court, chaired by Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, passed an interim order asking the director of Kerala lotteries department “not to disburse the first prize of the Kerala Christmas Bumper Lottery 2025, without getting further orders” from the court. 

“There will be a direction to the 2nd respondent to produce the photocopy of both sides of the Kerala Christmas Bumper Lottery, 2025, as well as the details of the person who has claimed the first prize-winning ticket, both in a sealed cover by the next posting,” said the order.

“I am not worried about the end result. If the ticket truly belongs to me, I would get it back,” Sajimon told Onmanorama.