A 46-year-old Indian national working as a boat captain in Sharjah Sea Port, has won the grand prize of $1million in Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire Promotion.

Francis Xavier Arippattuparambil Cleetus, a Sharjah resident was up in the sky when he received the news on his win as his lucky ticket no. 3133 in Series no. 238 was drawn earlier this morning (Tuesday) in Concourse B of Dubai International Airport.

Cleetus, a regular participant in the Millennium Millionaire promotion, couldn’t believe he had indeed won the $1-million prize.

"I am very glad that I won! Now I can bring my family here!," said the father of two who purchased his winning ticket online.

Following the draw, two winners were announced in the Finest Surprise Promotion - the stylish BMW X6 50i M Sport (Space Grey Metallic) was bagged by Rahul Hazra, a Dubai-based Indian national, while Ducati Hypermotard 939 (Red) went to his fellow countryman Maximilian Dsouza, also a Dubai resident, who purcahsed the ticket under his son’s name Vivaan.

Hazra, a regular buyer of Finest Surprise tickets in DDF purchased the winning ticket no. 0189 in Series no. 1648 on his way to Poland, where the news of his win caught him.

“It’s a great feeling to win a car I like!,” said an elated Hazra, who is now looking forward to have his first drive in his brand new car.

Dsouza, a 34 year old business travel consultant from Dnata, had purchased the lucky ticket no. 0859 in Series no. 300 under his son’s name Vivaan online.  

The latest DDF Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draw was conducted by senior officials headed by Colm McLoughlin, the executive vice chairman and CEO; Ramesh Cidambi, the chief operating officer; Nic Bruwer, the executive VP (Commercial) Sinead El Sibai, senior VP (Marketing and Michael Schmidt, Senior VP - Retail Support.-TradeArabia News Service