School transport employees win $1m in Dubai Duty Free draw

Syndicate of 25 work colleagues has been buying tickets for four years

Aslan Karatsev at the Millennium Millionaire draw by Dubai Duty Free on Saturday evening, after bring crowned winner of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Image: Dubai Duty Free.

When Rahul Thazheveettil received a call saying his syndicate had won $1 million, he thought it was a hoax.

The finance officer, 34, has been buying tickets with his 24  colleagues at a school transportation company for four years.

Each time they enter the draw, they split the cost of several tickets and register them under one of their names.

Usually the draws are done in the morning, so when they called me on Saturday evening I thought it was a fraud call

Their winning ticket in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire’s draw on March 20 was picked by Russian tennis player Aslan Karatsev, after he won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

"Usually the draws are done in the morning, so when they called me on Saturday evening I thought it was a fraud call," Mr Thazheveettil told The National.

“And I thought our tickets [had] already expired [in] the earlier draw on March 3.”

The following morning he received another call from the organisers but still could not believe they had won.

“Then they uploaded it on the website and I saw my name," he said.

“My birthday was on March 17, so I felt it was like a birthday gift.”

Rahul Thazheveettil with his mother Savithri Thazheveettil and wife Vinisha Rahul. Courtesy: Rahul Thazheveettil

Mr Thazheveettil said he is not sure how much of the $1 million prize he will receive because it's yet to be decided how the money will be split.

“Each one contributed with a different amount and we bought around four tickets, so we have to calculate how much each person gets.”

The Indian national said he plans to spend his share – which could be around Dh140,000 – to clear his loans back home.

“I think I will have some money left over, not a huge amount, so I will just save it.”

He said he felt honoured that after four years of buying tickets with his colleagues, the first one to win was under his name.

“And the [tennis] champion came all the way [to Dubai] to pick my name. I am very happy and proud.”

A resident in Dubai for 12 years, Mr Thazheveettil said this was the first time he's won in any draw.

“We will continue purchasing tickets every month – this has become a normal habit for us,” he said.

The winning ticket was bought on February 25.

Mr Thazheveettil is the 178th Indian to have won $1 million since the start of the Millennium Millionaire promotion in 1999.

According to the organisers, Indians make up the highest number of Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire ticket buyers.