From Chef To Driver, Here's A List Of Indians In The Middle East Whose Lives Changed After Winning A Lottery

Lotteries can be tricky. While some people try their entire lives without any success, others win big. Moreover, occasionally, there are bigger draws where the winning amount can go up to crores.

"Rags to riches" could be the story of many lottery winners, and that especially stands true for many desis living/working in the Middle East, especially in countries like UAE, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.

Here are some of the lucky Indians whose lives changed overnight after winning a lottery:

1. Mohammad Salah

A little boy named Mohammad Slah became a millionaire when he was one year old in 2020. Ramees Rahman, father of a 1-year-old Indian baby boy from Kerala, purchased a ticket in his name and won a whopping $1 million ( Rs 8.2 crore) in a monthly raffle draw in the UAE.

Representational Image/Shutterstock

Ramees is an accountant for a private company in Abu Dhabi.

2. Nobin Mathew

In 2021, Nobin Mathew, an Indian expatriate from Kuwait, won $4 million (Rs 33 crore) in a raffle draw competition held in the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Big Ticket Draw

Mathew, a supervisor for a spare parts company, won the Abu Dhabi Big Ticket Draw. His ticket number was 254806.

Mathew shifted to Kuwait in 2007 from Oman, where he grew up.

3. Rajamohan VK

Last week, a 58-year-old Oman-based Indian engineer won the grand prize of one million dollars (Rs 8.2 crore) in the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire draw.

Dubai Duty Free

Rajamohan VK won in the Millennium Millionaire Series 402 after buying lucky ticket number 0189 on September 21.

Rajamohan works as an engineer in Muscat, Oman. He has been a regular participant in the Millennium Millionaire promotion since 2007.

4. Navaneeth Sajeevan

In 2020, an unemployed Indian expat from Kerala, who lost his job in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, won $1 million ( Rs 8.2 crore) at the Dubai Duty-Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire Draw.

Gulf Today

Navaneeth Sajeevan, originally from Kasargod, won the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire after having bought the winning ticket online.

5. Saidali Kannan

In March, a Kerala man working as a private chef in Abu Dhabi hit a jackpot by winning 500,000 dirhams (Rs 1 crore) in a raffle draw in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Khaleej Times/Shutterstock

Saidali Kannan, who has been buying lottery tickets for the past 24 years, first won a cash prize way back in 1998. After trying his luck for all these years, he won the big ticket draw again in 2022.

6. Ranjit Somaranjan

Ranjit Somaranjan, who works as a driver in Dubai, hit a jackpot by winning 20 million dirhams (Rs 40 crore) in a raffle draw in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Gulf News

The Kerala man had been buying tickets for three years without any luck. But in 2021, his stars aligned perfectly.

He was at a place near the Abu Dhabi mosque when he got the good news. However, the winning amount was to be shared between 10 people, including Somarajan and his nine other friends.

7. Sunil Kumar Kathuria

In 2020, Sunil Kumar Kathuria, 33, who works as a salesperson for a private company in Manama, became the 342nd person to win a million dollars.

Representational Image/Reuters

A resident of Manama, he won $1 million with the ticket he had purchased.

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