Venkata is a porter in one of the famous supermarket chains in the UAE. Venkata, who was struggling to pay off his home loan in India, couldn’t believe he had become a millionaire. Last day’s latest draw was lucky. Venkata says that this can ease the burden of financial stress on the family.
One of Venkata’s sons is working as a delivery boy for a popular company in UAE. Venkata’s wife and three other children are in the country. He receives a phone call on Sunday morning informing him that he has received the prize. He said that it was a special moment that he had never experienced in his life and it was the first time that he had won such a huge amount. Apart from the raffle prize, he also won Dh250 after matching three out of five in the 140th draw.
Venkata said that when he did not succeed in the first attempts, he participated without giving up. He started participating in Mahsoos 10 months ago. He also dreams of starting his own business.
The other 2,770 participants in the same Mahsoos draw won around Dh859,000 in prize money. Pakistani expatriate Muhammad won gold coins worth Dh50,000 as part of the five-week long Golden Summer draw that started recently.
Indians had already won a jackpot of 10 million dirhams in the Dubai Mahsoos draw. Mahsoos ticket price is 35 dirhams. Participants can purchase a bottle of Mahsoos water. Weekly draw is every Saturday. There is a chance to win 20 million dirhams or 1 million dirhams in the raffle draw.
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The prize for Venkata comes just after the news that seven Indians won the big ticket weekly e-draw in the UAE. Seven Indians were among the eight who received a prize of one lakh dirham (Rs 22.5 lakh) each. They are from Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait and Hyderabad.
Malayalee boy is the Malayalee who won the prize. A cook in a cafeteria in Abu Dhabi. He along with 30 friends has been buying tickets for the past one year. The second lucky winner is Sahir Puthyandi, a bank employee in Sharjah. He took the ticket along with four relatives. The third lucky winner is Bibin Babu, an employee of Lulu Hypermarket in Qatar. This is the first time that the ticket is taken in one’s own name.
