Forgotten Kerala lottery ticket wins ₹30 lakh; honest seller helps Cancer-ridden child’s family

Periya: The people of Periya honoured the honesty of lottery seller T Sajith of Kulavan Lottery Stall after he informed a customer about a winning ticket worth lakhs that had been kept aside for him. Sajith’s integrity turned into a lifeline for the family of a child undergoing cancer treatment.

The second prize in Wednesday’s Kerala State Lotteries Dhanalakshmi lottery draw went to a ticket sold from Sajith’s stall. The ₹30 lakh-winning ticket had been reserved for Thadathil Biju, a regular customer who usually called Sajith over the phone to set aside lottery tickets for him. At the time, Biju was in Thiruvananthapuram for the treatment of his daughter Anvitha.

Biju’s family sees the unexpected prize as a blessing for their daughter’s continued treatment at Regional Cancer Centre. Locals had earlier formed a fund and collected donations to support the family, as huge expenses still remained for further treatment.

As usual, on Tuesday night Biju had called Sajith and asked him to keep aside three lottery tickets. Sajith reserved the tickets and sent the numbers to Biju via WhatsApp. However, amid the rush and stress at the hospital, Biju neither noticed the message nor paid for the tickets.

When the lottery results were announced on Wednesday, Sajith realised that one of the tickets reserved for Biju had won the ₹30 lakh second prize. Without hesitation, he immediately called Biju and informed him.

Biju later said he checked the result only after Sajith’s call. “In the rush at the hospital, I had completely forgotten about the ticket. All thanks go to Sajith,” he said.

Biju works as a pickup driver in Periya. Since he was in Thiruvananthapuram, Sajith handed over the winning ticket to Biju’s brother.

Sajith himself had overcome severe hardships before starting the lottery business. Earlier, he worked as a coconut tree climber. During work, he once suffered a dangerous wasp attack and underwent prolonged treatment. Doctors later advised him not to take up physically demanding jobs due to the risk of blood clotting complications. With the support of relatives and friends, he started the lottery stall in Periya Bazaar.

Though tickets sold from his stall had won prizes before, this was the first time such a major prize had been won.

Under the leadership of block panchayat member Sindhu Padmanabhan, local residents, social workers and employees of the Periya Service Cooperative Bank visited Sajith’s stall to congratulate him.