Thiruvananthapuram: The Rs 12-crore first prize of the Kerala state lottery's Xmas-New Year Bumper was won by Sharafuddin, a native of Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu.

Sharafuddin bought the top-prize winning ticket, bearing the number XG 358753, from Aryankavu, a region near Tamil Nadu border, in Kollam district of Kerala.

After deducting the agent's commission and the tax, Sharafuddin will get about Rs 7.56 crore.

It was a sweet surprise when Sharafudeen learnt that the ticket with him among other unsold ones has bagged the top prize in the lottery.

Living in a small house on 'poramboke' (government) land at Eravidharmapuram near Aryankavu in Kollam district, bordering Tamil Nadu, it had been a struggle for Sharafudeen, a Gulf returnee, 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 said.

Sharafudeen, who returned from Riyadh in 2013 after slogging there for nine years doing odd jobs, had been selling lottery tickets in and around Aryankavu.

His family comprises his mother, two brothers, wife and son Pervez Musharraf, a class 10 student.

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

A total of 33 lakh tickets were printed for the Christmas-New Year Bumper lottery. While 32,99,982 tickets were sold, 12 tickets were found to be damaged. The government will fetch Rs 77.35 crore through the lottery sales and 28 per cent as Goods and Service Tax.