Amidst moments of anxiety and excitement, the Kerala government on Wednesday announced the results of the state-run Onam bumper lottery, which carried the highest prize money of Rs 25 crore ever offered in the history of state lotteries. Though the first prize went to ticket number TE 230662, the winner is yet to be traced, Lottery Department sources here said.
Soon after the draw, held at the Gorky Bhavan here, it became clear that the ticket, sold by a lottery agency in northern Kozhikode, has won the first prize, carrying a whopping amount.
As a large number of people started to gather in front of the tiny shop and media persons from TV channels began making a beeline there, its owner said that their Palakkad branch had sold the prize-winning ticket days ago.
The first prize of Rs 25 crore is considered to be the highest prize ever announced in any lottery in the country.
Each ticket of the Onam bumper cost Rs 500.
Besides the first prize of Rs 25 crore, 20 people will receive Rs one crore each as the second prize, and the same number of persons will be awarded Rs 50 lakh each as the third prize.
As many as 10 people will receive Rs 5 lakh each as the fourth prize.
Nearly 75 lakh tickets were sold till Tuesday evening, which was also a record in the state, unofficial figures said.
Meanwhile, police in Kollam district are probing a murder case in which a person was hacked to death allegedly by his friend over a dispute with regard to the ticket they had bought by sharing money.
Local media reported that the gruesome murder took place following the dispute over the lottery ticket.
However, police said they were yet to confirm the actual cause of the killing, but they were probing the lottery angle as well.
