Jobless Keralite wins Dubai lottery

Our correspondent

An Indian man who had been retrenched by his company had luck smiling from another quarters – the $1 million Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire Draw held on December 20.

Navaneeth Sajeevan will take home the mega prize after his ticket, which he had bought online on November 22, won the Millennium Millionaire Series 345. Sajeevan is sharing the prize with four other friends but he will still get to take home $200,000, which is a sizeable amount.

The 30-year-old is an Abu Dhabi resident for four years, and lives there with his wife and one-year-old son. Sajeevan is currently serving his notice period until December 28 in an Abu Dhabi-based company, where he was made redundant in November owing to the pandemic. He had just finished a job interview when he got the call from DDF, informing him of the win.

Sajeevan hails from Kasargod district in Kerala, and his wife is still working here. He said he has not made major plans what he wants to do with his money; he will use it partly to clear loans amounting to Dh100,000 and save the rest to secure his future.

He is the 171st Indian national to win the DDF mega prize. Indians make up the highest number of Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire ticket buyers. The cost of a ticket is AED 1000 (Rs 20,000).