An “office boy” from India has won a 200-gram, 24-carat gold bar in a weekly e-draw of Big Ticket Abu Dhabi. Aruna Krishnappa Kidiyoor is among the four Indian expats who won gold bars in October’s third weekly e-draw, Gulf News reported.
Kidiyoor, 45, has been based in Bahrain for the last 23 years. He works as an office boy in the island country and has been buying Big Ticket Abu Dhabi tickets for some time now. However, it was only in the last four months that he began participating in the raffle with a group of friends.
The prize
On Monday, his name was called among the four winners.
“I was so happy and surprised when I found out I had won,” he said.
Kidiyoor has won a gold bar that weighs 200 grams and is crafted out of 24-carat gold. It is worth an estimated Dh96,500 ( ₹25 lakh) at current market rates.
The 45-year-old has not yet decided how he will spend his share of the winnings. He says he is still taking in the excitement.
The other winners
{{/usCountry}}The other winners
{{/usCountry}}Jijoy Viswan, Sadathulla Sharief and freelancer Manisha Harshal Kasat — all from India — were the three other winners of the weekly e-draw.
Viswan, a 51-year-old Kerala native, has been living in Sharjah for the last two decades. He bought the winning ticket with a group of friends and plans to use his share of the prize to support his family in India.
Another Sharjah resident is Manisha Harshal Kasat, who has been participating in the Big Ticket for the last three years. According to Khaleej Times, she is originally from Mumbai and bought the winning ticket on her own, without splitting with friends.
Sadathulla Sharief, the fourth winner, has been living in Dubai for the past year. A civil engineer from Bengaluru, he first came across the Big Ticket draw at an airport. “I was extremely excited when I received the news. I honestly couldn’t believe my luck. It was such a wonderful surprise!” he said.