Kerala: Fish vendor receives bank default notice of Rs 9 lakh, hours later wins lottery of Rs 70 lakh

In a surprising turn of events, a fish vendor from Kerala won a whopping Rs 70 lakh as a lottery prize money hours after he received a notice from the bank with respect to his house for default on loan repayment.

Pookunju, a fish vendor by profession, started his day off as normal on October 12 by purchasing a ticket from the Akshaya lottery, whose top prize was worth 70 lakh rupees. He learned that the bank had given notice of attachment when he went home in the afternoon because he had made a delay in loan repayment of almost 9 lakh.

The fish vendor stated, "We were in despair after we received the notification from the bank," in an interview with a local TV station. We were at a loss. Didn't know what to do. We wanted to sell our house. We have a son and a girl who is studying in school."
Pookunju added that his father had purchased lottery tickets and racked up a debt of almost 5 lakh.

But just hours after receiving the bank notification, when the lottery's winning number was revealed, fortune smiled upon the family and he was awarded the top prize of 70 lakh. "When I told him that we had won, he did not believe me. At first, she said that it was impossible. But later after checking and re-checking the ticket, it was confirmed that we indeed win the lottery ticket," said Pookunju's wife ecstatically.

Pookunju missed a Rs 5,000 lottery prize this week by just two numbers, according to the wife of the fish vendor, but she advised him to purchase another ticket the following day.

When Pookunju's wife was questioned about their future goals after winning the lottery, she replied that they would first pay off all of their pending debts before making sure their kids get a decent education so they could succeed in life.