Punjab visit proves lucky as Rajasthan veggie-seller wins Rs 11 crore lottery

A trip to Punjab, a little help from a friend and loads of luck. A vegetable seller from Rajasthan hit the jackpot in the state lottery to win Rs 11 crore, changing his life forever.

Amit Sehra bought the lottery ticket from a shop in Bathinda after borrowing money from a friend. He ended up winning the top prize in the Punjab State Lottery’s Diwali Bumper 2025.

With tears in his eyes, he said he did not even have enough money to visit Chandigarh to do the formalities to claim the lottery prize.

"It is God's blessing that he gave me 'chhappar phad ke'," said Sehra, who is from Kotputli in Jaipur and sells vegetables on a cart.

He said he will spend the money on his two children's education. The vegetable seller added that he will also give Rs 1 crore to his friend, Mukesh, for lending him money for the lottery ticket.

The result of the Punjab state lottery was declared on October 31.

Armed with the lottery ticket, Amit, along with his wife and two boys, visited the Punjab State Lottery office in Chandigarh on Tuesday to complete the paperwork.

The family dressed in simple clothes walked into the office and became emotional as the paperwork began with the media surrounding them.

An emotional Sehra, with tears in his eyes, said, "I sell potato, onion and tomato in the streets to feed my children. But I would dream of making them officers. I had the belief that God would listen to my prayers someday. While selling the veggies, at times I would be taunted, cops often misbehaved with me, but I had to bear all this. The Bajrang Bali has given me the strength to give a good life to my sons."

The 35-year-old said he had come from Rajasthan with his friend Mukesh to visit his uncle in Moga. On their way to Moga, they had stopped at Bathinda for tea when they saw a lottery ticket stall, and on his friend's insistence he bought two tickets. Later, he returned home with the tickets in his bag.

"You pray a lot and have faith in God and destiny, you must buy the ticket," Amit recounted his conversation with Mukesh that day. "Mujhe yeh to pata tha ki meri kismat paltegi, par ye nahin pata tha ki aise paltegi."

On November 1, Mukesh called him up to say that he had won Rs 11 crore and another Rs 1,000 on those two tickets.

He said he had been buying lottery for two to three years now with the firm belief that he would hit the jackpot one day. With PTI