Temple staff winner of Kerala Rs 12 crore Onam lottery

The winner of the Onam bumper lottery ticket of the Kerala government with prize money of Rs 12 crore was a temple staff hailing from the Idukki district.

Though the result was announced on Sunday, the winner remained unidentified till late in the evening. Later it was known that it was Ananthu Vijayan hailing from Idukki won the lottery. He did not give much publicity owing to safety concerns and later handed over the ticket to a bank.

Ananthu, who is 24, has been working as a clerk at a temple in Kochi and he hailed from a weak financial background. He used to take bumper tickets occasionally with expectations of addressing the financial crunches of a family comprising parents and two siblings.

Over 40 lakh Onam bumper lottery tickets were sold out. The winning lottery ticket was sold by Tamilnadu native Alakaswami who used to work under a major lottery agency in Kochi. Ananthu will get around Rs. 7.5 crore after taxes and agent commission. The ticket price was 300.