Indian man wins ₹44 crore in lottery in UAE after buying tickets for past 5 years

Munavar Fairoos works as a private driver in the city of Al Ain. On December 31, 2023, he won the grand prize in the Big Ticket Live draw held in the UAE.

A man from India working in the UAE struck it lucky when he ended up winning a Dh20-million grand prize in a lottery. As per reports, Munavar Fairoos, who works as a private driver in the city of Al Ain, has been buying lottery tickets for the past five years. In the latest Big Ticket Live draw, he won the amount that equals approximately ₹44 crore.

The lottery winner shared that the news of winning the grand prize shocked him (Representational image). (Unsplash/@dylan nolte)

Fairoos, however, is not the sole winner of the amount, reports Khaleej Times. He bought the ticket with a group of 30 people. The winning amount will be divided equally among everyone who pitched in to buy the lottery ticket.

When asked about what he will do with the prize money, Fairoos told the outlet, “I’m not sure yet because I really did not expect this to happen. I’m still shocked and will need to take some time to think about my options.”

Another Indian, Suthesh Kumar Kumaresan, won Dh1 million on the same day. A resident of Abu Dhabi, he purchased the ticket at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

“It was my seven-year-old daughter who actually chose the winning ticket numbers,” he told Big Ticket’s representatives, reports Khaleej Times. “My family is very excited about the win. We bought a home in India and plan to use the money to pay off the interest,” he added.

Fairoos and Kumaresan aren't the only ones who won big amounts. The lucky draw, which was held on December 31, also saw ten more individuals winning cash prizes worth Dh100,000. They are of Indian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Saudi Arabian nationalities.