Despite having a humble upbringing, Mahant Dwarka Dass, a native of Trivedi Camp in Punjab’s Derabassi neighborhood, won a staggering Rs 5 crore in the lottery on Wednesday.

As soon as the word circulated around the neighborhood, the family celebrated in a big way as Mahant’s close friends could be seen dancing. Happy to have won the lottery, the 88-year-old winner announced that he would split the money between his two kids.

Speaking to the media, Dwarka Dass said, “I’m feeling happy. I’ve been buying lotteries for the last 35–40 years. I will distribute the winning amount among my two sons and to my ‘Dera’,” according to republic world.

“My father gave money to my nephew to buy a lottery ticket for him. He won it, and we are feeling happy,” one of Mahant’s sons, Narender Kumar Sharma, said.

Karam Singh, Assistant Lottery Director, said the amount would be given to Dwarka Dass after tax deduction. The current tax rate on lottery winning is 30%. “Punjab State Lohri Makar Sankranti Bumper Lottery 2023 results were announced on Jan 16. Dwarka Dass won the first prize of Rs 5 Crore. After completing the prescribed procedure, the amount will be given to him after deducting 30% tax,” Singh said in his statement.

An interesting case also occurred last year in October when a man named Pookunju from Kerala won a lottery of 70 lakh a few hours after getting a loan recovery notice from the bank.

Pookunju ‘s father frequently bought lottery tickets, but Pookunju himself usually did not buy lottery tickets. A few years back, he took a loan to build his house but was not able to pay back and received a ban notice.

On the same day, he won a lottery worth 70 lakh, which he used to pay his piled-up debt of Rs 12 lakh.