Lightning may strike once but for an Indian expatriate in Dubai, Lady Luck has smiled twice in quick succession.
The expat has joined the list of US$1 million winners who doubled their luck and won the promotion twice when the latest Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draws were held today in Concourse A of Dubai International Airport.
Sree Sunil Sreedharan, a 55 year old Indian national based in Dubai became the 8th person to win the Millennium Millionaire promotion twice when his ticket number 1938 in Millennium Millionaire Series 388, which he purchased online on 10th April, was drawn today.
Sreedharan previously won a US$1 million in Millennium Millionaire Series 310 with ticket number 4638 in September 2019. Incredibly, he also won a Range Rover HSE 360PS (Fuji White) car in Finest Surprise Series 1746 with ticket number 1293 in February 2020.
A regular participant to Dubai Duty Free promotions for more than 20 years, Mr. Sreedharan, who used to work as an estimation manager for a company in Abu Dhabi, now runs his own online trading business in Dubai. “Thank you Dubai Duty Free for making me a second time winner of US$1 million. I’m encouraging everyone to participate in this amazing promotion and be patient. I am certainly a proof of that!” he said.
Mr Sreedharan, who hails from Kerala in India is also the 188th Indian national to have won US$1 million since the start of the Millennium Millionaire promotion in 1999. Indian nationals make up the highest number of Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire ticket buyers.
Today’s Millennium Millionaire draw was conducted by Dubai Duty Free’s Chief Operating Officer, Ramesh Cidambi, Salah Tahlak, Executive Vice President – Corporate Services, Sinead El Sibai, SVP – Marketing, Mona Al Ali, SVP – Human Resources, Michael Schmidt, SVP – Retail and Zayed Al Shebli, SVP – Loss Prevention and Corporate Security.
Following the Millennium Millionaire draw, the Finest Surprise draw was conducted for two luxury vehicles.
Mr Rashid Al Mutawaa, a 41-year-old Emirati national based in Dubai, won a BMW 750Li xDrive M Sport (Mineral White Metallic) car, with ticket number 0924 in Finest Surprise Series 1804, which he purchased online on 21st April.
Mr Al Mutawaa, who runs his own travel agency, started buying tickets for Dubai Duty Free promotion only last year and couldn’t believe that he won.
“What a lucky day! Thank you Dubai Duty Free!” he commented.
Lastly, Mr Purushothaman Pachairaj, a 61 year old Indian national from Chennai, India won a BMW R 1250 RS (Imperial Blue Metallic) motorbike, with ticket number 0814 in Finest Surprise Series 496, which he purchased on 23rd April when he travelled between India and Basra, Iraq.
