DUBAI: 40-Member Group Of Mostly Indians Wins $2.72 Million Lottery In UAE

DUBAI: A 40-member group, including 38
Indians working at a Qatar-based hypermarket chain, have won 10 million dirhams
(USD 2.72 million) in a lucky draw in the UAE, according to a media report on
Monday.

The
winning ticket was bought on Indian expatriate Naheel Nizamudeen’s name in the
Big Ticket Lottery, Abu Dhabi, the Khaleej Times reported.

Mr
Nizamudeen, who hails from Kerala, could not be reached since Sunday evening
and the lottery organisers had to contact his parents in India to deliver the
news of the mega prize.

In the
lottery application, Mr Naheel had given his Indian number which was not
active. However, he had also given the alternate number of his parents, which
was how the organisers contacted him.

The prize
will be shared by another 39 winners, of whom 37 are Indians (all hailing from
Kerala) and the other two are from Bangladesh. All of them are employees of
Qatar-based hypermarket chain Al Suwayed Group.

The news
of the winning is yet to sink in. “We usually get a lot of spam calls. I
still can’t believe that we have won,” Mr Naheel told the newspaper.

“We
are all from middle-class families and have financial issues. So, the future of
40 families have been secured with this jackpot,” said Shinoy Othayoth
Kizhakk, one of the winners and Mr Nizamedeen’s roommate.

Mr Shinoy
said it was the first time that 40 people bought the ticket.

 “Usually, there are 10 to 15
people who purchase the ticket. Since we were not winning for the past couple
of years, we expanded our group to 40….. You never know who gets lucky,”
Mr Shinoy said over the phone.