Dubai: A 7-year-old Indian boy living in Ajman is the new Dubai Duty Free million dollar winner.
Kapilraj Kanakaraj, a Grade 1 student, walked away with $1 million on Tuesday, March 17. The boy hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
His father, Kanakaraj, is a businessman in Ajman who supplies furniture to schools in UAE. Speaking to Gulf News, the father could not contain his excitement when he spoke to Gulf News.
I cannot believe my luck
“This is the first time I have ever bought a raffle ticket in my life and I cannot believe my luck that I have won,” he said in a telephone interview to Gulf News.
Kanakaraj said he was travelling to Chennai on a business trip when he bought his winning ticket number 4234 from the series 327.
"I was reluctant to travel at first. But I was forced to travel. In the last minute I decided to buy the ticket. I feel lucky," Kanakaraj said in a telephone interview.
A resident of UAE for the past 27 years, Kanakaraj said the winning money will go into developing a building in Ajman for which he has already procured a land.
“I have already bought a 6.5 million square feet of land space and I plan to build an office building with the winning moneyon this.”
Other winners
Meanwhile, Dubai Duty Free announced other winners on Tuesday as part of the bi-weekly raffle draw.
Three winners of luxury vehicles were announced in the Finest Surprise Promotion directly after the Millennium Millionaire draw.
Devaraj Subramaniam, a 57 Indian national based in Dubai won a Mercedes Benz S560 (Diamond White) in Series 1749 with ticket number 1106. A resident of Dubai for 12 years, Subramaniam works as an Integration Manager for General Electric.
The father of one, Subramaniam who also hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, said he was delighted with the win.
A 38 year old Filipina national based in Dubai was another lucky winner. Ms. Marie Joy Candalla, won a Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber Sport motorbike in Series 402 with ticket number 0112 she bought online.
A resident of Dubai for six years, the Filipina said she recently started buying Dubai Duty Free tickets.
It was a lucky day for a Sudanese nation also - Ahmed Saeed Mohammed, 44, who won an Aprilia RSV4 RR (Nero) in Series 403 with ticket number 0642 which he bought during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Mohammed, a resident of UAE for 42 years, works as a registered nurse for Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and has been participating to Dubai Duty Free promotions for 4-5 years already.
The draw on Tuesday was conducted by Dubai Duty Free Chief Operating Officer, Ramesh Cidambi, COO, Salah Tahlak, Executive Vice President – Corporate Services, Sinead El Sibai, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Mona Al Ali, Senior Vice President – HR and Michael Schmidt, Senior Vice President – Retail Support.
