Indian expat wins over Rs 45 crore in weekly UAE draw

DUBAI: An Indian expat living in UAE for the past 11 years has won a whopping AED 20 million (Rs 45,30,00,000), becoming the 64th millionaire of the Mahzooz Saturday Millions weekly draw.

Sreeju, who works as a control room operator in the oil and gas industry, was at work when he received the news last week, and said that the "unexpected win" left him "speechless and shocked".

"I was speechless, shocked, and surprised to know that I won, not just a prize, but the top prize of AED 20,000,000... I was in my car about to drive around when I checked my Mahzooz account, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I was confused about what to do when I saw my winnings. I waited for that call from Mahzooz to confirm that my winning was true,” Sreeju said.

The father of six-year-old twins, Sreeju has been participating in Mahzooz draw for the past three years, twice every month with hopes of winning someday.

"The hope that I will win someday kept me going. I did not expect to be a winner this time, at least not the AED 20 million!” he said.

Sreeju wants to utilise a part of his winnings in buying a home in India, and despite his newfound fortune, he intends to continue his job in the UAE.

"We congratulate Sreeju on his historic win and we are delighted to witness another life being positively transformed through Mahzooz’s generous prizes," Suzan Kazzi, Head of Communications and CSR, Mahzooz, said addressing a press conference.

Mahzooz, which means 'lucky' in Arabic, offers participants an opportunity to win millions every week.

To date, Mahzooz weekly draws have created 64 millionaires, and distributed close to Rs 11 billion to more than 1,107,000 winners.

For only Rs 793, participants can purchase a bottle of Mahzooz Saturday Millions water and enter the weekly draws consisting of the Grand Draw, for a chance to win the top prize of AED 20 million.

Last month, Magesh Kumar Natarajan, a project manager from Tamil Nadu in the UAE, won the FAST5 Grand Prize of Emirates Draw that will get him Dh 25,000 (Rs 5.6 lakh) a month for 25 years.

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