A lottery agent has been arrested for allegedly snatching a ₹1 crore winning ticket from a 72-year-old woman by lying her into believing that the ticket won only ₹100. The accused, Rajamanikyam, 55, alias Kannan of Vayalarikathu Veedu near Kokode at Peroorkada, was arrested by police. Reportedly he admitted to the crime during questioning as per Times of India.
The victim, Sukumary Amma, who sells umbrellas, caps, and other items in front of the Museum gate, lives at Deepu Sadanam near Vellayani School in Nemom. She regularly bought lottery tickets from Rajamanikyam and had previously won ₹30,000 and ₹12,000.
On Tuesday evening, Amma bought a lottery ticket from Rajamanikyam. The next morning, he approached her, claiming that her ticket had won ₹500. Another lottery agent named Prabha was present at the time. Prabha took the ticket to verify the prize but couldn’t find the winning number. When questioned, Rajamanikyam snatched the ticket back and insisted that Amma had won only ₹100.
Sensing something suspicious, Prabha later discovered that Rajamanikyam had presented the ticket to another agent to claim the ₹1 crore prize. Amma said, “We had noted the ticket number and it matched with the one he produced before the other agent. When we contacted him over the phone to ask about this, he kept quiet and switched off his phone.”
Amma filed a complaint with the Museum police. The case is registered under IPC Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating). The accused was on the run for two days before being arrested early Saturday morning from his house. The police reported that Rajamanikyam confessed to cheating Amma to steal the prize money. Rajamanikyam was remanded after being presented before a court on the charges.