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Dubai: Indian wins $1 million in Duty Free draw, remains uncontactable

Three others drove away with luxury vehicles

Published: Wed 19 Jul 2023, 3:19 PM

Updated: Wed 19 Jul 2023, 4:37 PM

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Dubai Duty Free's Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin, Ramesh Cidambi, COO, Salah Tahlak, Joint COO, Sinead El Sibai, SVP - Marketing, Michael Schmidt, SVP – Retail, Sharon Beecham, SVP – Purchasing and Zayed Al Shebli, SVP – Loss Prevention & Corporate Security conducting the draw for Millennium Millionaire Series 429. — Supplied photos

Dubai Duty Free's Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin, Ramesh Cidambi, COO, Salah Tahlak, Joint COO, Sinead El Sibai, SVP - Marketing, Michael Schmidt, SVP – Retail, Sharon Beecham, SVP – Purchasing and Zayed Al Shebli, SVP – Loss Prevention & Corporate Security conducting the draw for Millennium Millionaire Series 429. — Supplied photos

Another Indian national has been added to the ever-growing list of Indian winners of $1 million when the draw for the latest Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire promotion was held on Wednesday in Concourse A of Dubai International Airport.

Vinay Shreekar Chodankar, an Indian national based in Mumbai, won a $1 million in Millennium Millionaire Series 429 with ticket number 3588, which he purchased on June 30 on his way to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia from Dubai.

Chodankar is currently uncontactable, but will no doubt be delighted to learn of his new-found fortune, which makes him the 212th Indian national to have won $1 million since the start of the Millennium Millionaire promotion in 1999 while Indian nationals are the biggest buyers of tickets.

Wednesday's draws were conducted by Dubai Duty Free's Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Colm McLoughlin, Ramesh Cidambi, COO, Salah Tahlak, Joint COO, Sinead El Sibai, SVP - Marketing, Michael Schmidt, SVP – Retail, Sharon Beecham, SVP – Purchasing and Zayed Al Shebli, SVP – Loss Prevention & Corporate Security.

Following the Millennium Millionaire draw, a presentation was made to a previous $1 million winner in Series 428.

Mani Balaraj, winner of $1 million in Millennium Millionaire Series 428 with ticket number 0405, received his ceremonial cheque from Dubai Duty Free officials.

A resident of Abu Dhabi for 12 years, Balaraj shared the ticket cost with his four other friends, who have been participating in the Dubai Duty Free promotion for two years now. alternating the name on the ticket for each series whenever they purchase.

Upon receiving his ceremonial cheque, he commented: "On behalf of my four other friends with whom I shared this winning prize, thank you so much, Dubai Duty Free."

Following the Millennium Millionaire presentation, the Finest Surprise draw was conducted for three luxury vehicles.

Aiham Alkeilan, a 47-year-old Syrian national based in Dubai won a BMW X5 M Competition (Mineral White Metallic) car, with ticket number1384 in Finest Surprise Series 1844, which he purchased on June 25 on his way to Mahe Island, Seychelles for a vacation.

A resident of Dubai for over 40 years, Alkeilan has been a regular participant in Dubai Duty Free's promotion for four years now and works in sales for a Dubai property.

“This is one of my happiest moments! Thank you Dubai Duty Free,” he said.

Meanwhile, Arun Sinha, a 65-year-old Indian national based in New Delhi, India won a Mercedes Benz S500 (Graphite Grey) car, with ticket number 1430 in Finest Surprise Series 1845, which he purchased on his way to New Delhi from Dubai.

A regular participant in Dubai Duty Free's promotion whenever he travels to Dubai, Arun is a father of two and works as a managing director of his own shipping company — Alar Infrastructure Private Limited in New Delhi, India.

“This is really fantastic, Dubai Duty Free you’re the best!” he said.

Lastly, Abdulla Ahmed, a 57-year-old Emirati national based in Sharjah won a BMW S 1000 XR (Black Storm Metallic) motorbike, with ticket number 1115 in Finest Surprise Series 544, which he purchased online on 6th July.

A regular participant in Dubai Duty Free's promotion for 15 years now, Ahmed is no stranger to winning with Dubai Duty Free as he also previously won a Range Rover Sport HSE Dynamic 3.0 P360 (Silicon Silver) car, with ticket number 0090 in Finest Surprise Series 1776 in June 2021.

Ahmed is a proprietor for Al Mulla Group of Companies.

“Thank you to Dubai Duty Free. Inshallah, more and more wins to come,” he said.

Following the Finest Surprise draw, a presentation to the previous winner of a motorbike in Finest Surprise Series 542 took place.

Erwin Speiser, winner of a BMW R 1250 RS (Black Storm Metallic) motorbike, with ticket number 1049 in Finest Surprise Series 542, flew all the way from Austria to receive the key to his winning motorbike.

A third-time motorbike winner, Speiser previously won in 2017 and 2021. He first won a Ducati Hypermotard SP motorbike with ticket number 0356 in Finest Surprise Series 303 in April 2017, and then a BMW F 900 XR motorbike, with ticket number 0312 in Finest Surprise Series 442 in February 2021.

On receiving the key to his third motorbike with Dubai Duty Free, he commented: "Glad that I’m finally here; I can’t thank you enough, Dubai Duty Free, for giving me the opportunity to win in your amazing promotion for a record three times."

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