In a life-altering jackpot, a painter from Aymanam near Kottayam recently won the Rs 12 crore Christmas-New Year bumper lottery of the Kerala state lotteries. Sadanandan (68) hit the crorepati mark within hours after he bought the ticket on Sunday. 

Having bought the ticket from a lottery agent named Selvan around 9.30 am at Kudayampadi, he didn’t have high expectations but it all changed when he checked the numbers. Not a regular lottery ticket-buyer, he had gone to Kudayampadi Junction on Sunday morning for buying meat.

Selvan convinced Sadanandan to buy the ticket telling him that he had only three lotteries left with him. Upon insistence, he finally bought one and left for home. At 3 pm, when the lottery draw was announced, Sadanandan learned that he had won the first prize. 

As the announcement broke, the lottery dealer reached his house to inform him about the prize. Upon hearing about the jackpot, his sons Sanish and Sanjay also rushed home in a scramble while the manager of a nearby bank arrived at his house in the evening and received the ticket.