Dubai: Lady Luck keeps striking Malayalis in UAE over and over. This time, Pathanamthitta Aranmula native John Varghese has won Rs 20 crore (Dh 1.2 crore) in Abu Dhabi Big Ticket draw. He is working as a driver in a private firm in Dubai.
“When they called to inform about the prize, I thought it was some prank on April Fool’s Day. I informed my family about the news, only after confirming the news. I’ll share the prize money between the other four friends who bought the ticket with me,” John said.
“I started buying Abu Dhabi Big Ticket one year ago. The prize money will be used for my children’s education. I have no plans to leave the job and return to my country, though I’ve won a huge sum. It was Dubai that gave me this life and blessed me with this fortune. So, I’ll continue here,” John added.
In the draw, all the seven prizes were won by Indians and most of them are assumed to be Malayalis. Moidu Aykkara, Shinu Thazhathuvalappil, Sunny Devassiakutty, Ratheesh Sasidharan, Arakkal Valappil Haridasan and Vinod Kumar Gopinathan are the other winners.
The Big Ticket draw was held on Tuesday at the arrival hall of Abu Dhabi Airport. This is the second time that a Malayali wins such a huge amount in Abu Dhabi Big Ticket draw. Earlier, Alappuzha native Harikrishnan residing in Ajman had won Rs 20 crore in January.
