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ShareMumbai: Though unknown to each other, there's a common thread running through Rovellen Johnson D'Silva, 50, Sudhakar Nilkanth Telange, 64, Girdhar Mohan Kakrecha, 44, and Madhavi Ramchandra Dalvi, 62. They all became crorepatis on Tuesday at a cost of Rs10 each.
The four have won close to Rs16 crore between them by striking the Playwin jackpot. Telange will take home Rs6.04 crore, Dalvi Rs5.02 crore, Kakrecha Rs2.65 crore and D'Silva Rs1.96 crore.
"This is the first time that a lotto company has given away a jackpot amount as big as this in one go," said Amit Goenka, chief executive officer of PAN India networks Ltd.
Goenka and actor Lara Dutta handed the cheques to the winners (Dalvi couldn't make it to the ceremony and someone else collected the cheque on her behalf).
Kakrecha's is a rags to riches story. An attendant at a hardware shop in Chembur, the 44-year-old will now go on a pilgrimage with his family to thank god for the windfall. "I will invest the money in businesses that secure my family's financial future," he said.
Telange can't help but praise the format of the online lottery that has changed his life for the better.
"The most important thing is that anyone with just Rs10 in hand can hope to become a millionaire," he said. A retired accountant from Nagpur, Telange has won the lottery for the second time. In 2003, he won Rs60,000 in the jackpot after five of his six digits matched with the winning combination.
He plans to put the money where his mouth is. "I am going to use the money to kickstart my son's real estate business in Nagpur," he said, adding that some part of the lottery will also go toward charity.
D'Silva said his prophecy had come true. "Two days before the results were announced, I told my wife that I am going to win more than a crore and I will buy a house for us in Dadar. She didn't believe me, but here we are," he says. "I think all my money will be spent on buying the house."
An oil rig engineer working off the shore of Malaysia, D'Silva comes home every alternate month for a month-long rest leave. "That's when I play." Pioneers of online lotto gaming, Playwin has announced 70 crorepatis and more 3,000 lakhpatis from across the country so far, making it the most successful gaming format in a short span of seven years.
"We have seen a driver win the jackpot and become the owner of a fleet of luxury cars. We've had a winner, a sweeper, who bought an apartment in a highrise," Goenka said.
