A 46-year-old lottery vendor in Tamil Nadu’s Kollam, Sharafudeen A, became a crorepati overnight after an unsold ticket won the first prize of Rs 12 crore as part of the Kerala government’s Christmas-New Year bumper issue, PTI reported.

Sharafudeen hails from Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu. He was ecstatic when he learnt that the ticket with him, among other unsold ones, had received the top prize in the lottery.

Living in a small house at Eravidharmapuram in Kollam district,  near Tamil Nadu, Sharafudeen, who returned from Riyadh in 2013, to take care of his six-member joint family, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want to build a house of my own, clear my debts and start a small business with the prize amount,” he told PTI.

Sharafudeen had been selling lottery tickets in and around Aryankavu, since 2013. His family comprises his mother, two brothers, wife and son Pervez Musharraf, a class 10 student.

On Tuesday, he appeared before the Lottery Directorate in Thiruvananthpuram and produced the winning ticket.

According to PTI, he will get about Rs 7.50 crore after 30% tax deduction and 10% agent commission in the prize money, sources said.