Three-time lucky lottery winner lands $1m in Dubai Duty Free draw

Sree Sreedharan, 55, won his first million in 2019 and a luxury car in 2020

Dubai Duty Free officials announce the latest winners from the draws.

A Dubai resident has scooped $1 million for the second time in three years after entering the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw.

Sree Sreedharan, 55, won his first million in 2019 and couldn’t believe his luck on Wednesday when he received a call saying he had bagged the cash prize for a second time.

The retired engineer, who now trades foreign exchange online, bought ticket number 1938 online last month.

Mr Sreedharan is the eighth person to win the prize twice since it was launched in 1999.

I bought three tickets for this draw which cost Dh3,150 in total, so I would say it was a great return on investment

Sree Sreedharan,
two-time millionaire

“I bought three tickets for this draw, which cost Dh3,150 in total, so I would say it was a great return on investment,” Mr Sreedharan said.

“I was in a meeting when the call came through and of course I was very happy, but I didn't share the news with colleagues.

“I’m a very humble, very simple man. I will use the money to invest in more online trading.”

The father of one, who has lived in the UAE for 30 years, is no stranger to good luck. He also won a Range Rover HSE in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise series in 2020.

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  Tang boxes at the Dubai Duty Free warehouse near the airport. Pawan Singh / The National

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Asked if he counts himself as a lucky man, he said: “Maybe people say lucky but I invest a lot.

“I have been buying tickets for the [millionaire] draw for years. Sometimes I even buy 10 tickets at a time, so I put a lot into it. Even now I have won twice I will keep entering the draw.

“I haven’t told my son that I have won again because he will think he doesn’t need to study. I still want him to work hard and I don’t plan on telling him but he may see it in the news.”

Mr Sreedharan, from Kerala in India, is the 188th Indian national to have won $1 million since the start of the Millennium Millionaire promotion. Residents from India make up the largest group of those buying tickets.

Two other lucky winners also walked away with luxury vehicles in the Finest Surprise draw.

Emirati Rashid Al Mutawaa, 41, won a BMW M Sport, and Indian national Purushothaman Pachairaj, 61, won a BMW motorbike.