Indian student, 21, wins $1 million at Dubai Duty Free Raffle

An Indian national living in Bahrain on Tuesday won $1 million at the Dubai Duty Free raffle.

Sara Elrayah Ahmed, a 21-year-old medical student, had purchased ticket no. 2790 in series 299 on her way back to Manama during her transit in Dubai from Mumbai.

"I followed my father's advice to purchase a ticket and put it under my name, and never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine to win such a huge amount of money. Thank you Dubai Duty Free for a life changing surprise, this will certainly go a long way," she said.

Ahmed is the 141st Indian national to win $1 million since the inception of the raffle in 1999.

Following the draw for the Millennium Millionaire, three more winners were also announced in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise promotion, with each one winning a luxury vehicle.

Russian national Irina Druzhinina won a McLaren 570S Spider (Volcano Orange) in Series no. 1716 with winning ticket number 0724, while Jaswinder Singh Brar, an Indian national based in Dubai, won a Range Rover HSE 340 HP (Fuji White) in Series no. 1717 with ticket number 0065.

Shahul Hameed, a 35-year-old Indian national living in Dubai for the past 11 years, won a BMW R Nine T Scrambler motorbike (Black Storm Aurum) in Series 364 with ticket number 0660.

Last month, two Dubai-based expatriates were declared winners of $1 million at the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draw.

One of the winners, Michael McGinley, became the first-ever Irish national to strike big at the draw since its inception in 1999, while the second lucky participant, Mukhtar M., is a Canadian passport holder who has been buying tickets for a decade.

McGinley bagged the jackpot with his ticket number 4143. The Dubai-based expat has also been a regular participant of the millionaire draw, buying at least a coupon whenever he travels to Ireland, which is usually around five to six times a year.

Surprised by the unexpected call, he exclaimed, “What can I say? I just tried my Irish luck and it worked! Thank you so much Dubai Duty Free.”

The second Millennium Millionaire winner of the day, Mukhtar, is a holder of ticket number 2060.

The 37-year-old Canadian national living in Dubai bought his winning ticket at the Tennis Village during the recent Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. A regular participant in the promotion and a resident of Dubai for 27 years, he works as a real estate broker.

For Mukhtar, the good fortune came after a decade of buying lottery tickets, and he was surprised when raffle organisers finally gave him a call to deliver the news.

“Thank you so much Dubai Duty Free for this amazing news, I have been participating in your promotions both for Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise for 10 years. I can’t believe that I’ve finally won!”

The draw was conducted by Dubai Duty Free’s Ramesh Cidambi, chief operating officer; Salah Tahlak, executive vice president – corporate services and Sinead El Sibai, senior vice president – marketing.