ALAPPUZHA: After two days of successfully evading the media, Sarath S Nair, a native of Thuravoor, appeared at a bank in Alappuzha to hand over his Rs 25 crore worth lucky TH 577825 ticket number on Monday. Many media portals were awaiting the lucky winner’s visit and were thus stationed in front of the bank. Sarath was thus bombarded with questions, which he answered calmly.

When asked how he was going to spend his money, Sarath said he needed time to contemplate a plan.

SARATH S NAIR:

"I have a house, but also some debts that came during its construction. I need to settle it. I have previously taken lottery tickets for small amounts. It was the first time that I tried luck with a bumper. I had a photo of the ticket on my phone. When the results came, I checked them and ended up in disbelief. I checked it more than three times and later forwarded it to my wife and asked her to do the same.

I took a leave from the office at noon and reached my house to check the ticket. A sudden tension ran through my body when it was confirmed that the winning ticket was mine. I live with my wife, son, brother and my parents."

Ever since it was learned that the first prize of Rs 25 crore in the Thiruvonam bumper was won by a ticket sold in Nettoor, Ernakulam, the media were on the lookout to find the lucky winner.

Latheesh, who sold the ticket, had announced yesterday that the lucky winner was a woman from Nettoor and she would be in front of the media at 12 pm on Sunday. Subsequently, the media staff camped at the agency before 12 noon but returned disappointed. Finally, today, the real lucky winner came out from his hiding.