Thieves try their luck with Thiruvonam Bumper lottery tickets in Kozhikode district

A strange spike in theft attempts at lottery ticket stalls in Kozhikode has raised serious concerns among lottery traders in the district. In one of the three latest incidents, a lottery stall owner from Koyilandy lost 52 Thiruvonam Bumper tickets in an alleged break-in that occurred early on September 14. Most of the stall owners do not have any surveillance mechanisms to protect their stock.

There is no clue yet about the suspects, though the police have collected CCTV visuals from nearby locations. According to the police, the theft took place at a wayside shop named V.K. Lottery Stall near Koyilandy bus stand where no security guards were on duty. The stall was found broken into when the owner arrived to open it on Sunday morning. While checking the inventory, he found that 52 tickets, each costing ₹500, from the highly anticipated draw had been missing.

“This was the third such incident in just three weeks in Koyilandy, where the suspects are still at large. In the first incident, the total number of lost tickets was 22. Three days ago, a stall reportedly lost three tickets,” said a lottery agent from Koyilandy. 

The incident has come as a shocker for many agents as the mega draw is scheduled for September 27 at 2 p.m. offering ₹25 crore as the first prize.

“The serial numbers of the stolen tickets have already been collected and reported to the higher authorities. It is done mainly to prevent the payout of prizes claimed using such tickets and scientifically help the enforcement wings track down the illegal resale,” said a Lottery department official.

In the wake of the recent thefts, retailers in the field have been asked to verify the authenticity of all tickets they received from various channels and report suspicious stocks immediately to the higher authorities. An official advisory is also expected soon from the Lottery department explaining the guidelines related to the safe storage and handling of the stock.

Police sources said the investigation was progressing at various levels to check whether the incidents had any connection with known criminal gangs operating in the district. They said a breakthrough would be possible only after the scientific examination of the CCTV visuals.