KOCHI: The Maradu resident who hogged headlines after winning the Kerala government’s Rs 12-crore Onam bumper lottery in September is now realising the perils of sudden riches. Jayapalan P R, an autorickshaw driver, has received two anonymous ‘threat letters’ over the past two months demanding a share of the prize money or “face severe consequences”.
The 56-year-old man has now approached the Maradu police station seeking protection and a probe into the incident. Jayapalan’s son, Vyshakh, told TNIE that his father received the first letter on November 9. Another letter arrived on Tuesday. “Based on the content, we suspect both letters are written by the same person. There is no name and address of the sender in the letter,” he said.
However, the letter contains a mobile phone number. “In the letter, it is stated that we have to face severe consequences if a portion of the money received from the Onam bumper lottery is not paid to the sender. We have handed over both of the letters to the police,” Jayapalan’s son said.
According to the police, in the first letter, Jayapalan was asked to pay money to help a financially backward family. The writer identified himself as a policeman. The letter claims that those who are behind it are highly influential persons and have connections in the government. It reportedly contains several colloquial usages.
“We have found that the letters were posted from Chelakkara in Thrissur district,” a police officer said. According to the official, the investigation team had dialled the mobile phone number mentioned in the letter. “However, it was an elderly woman who attended the call. She seemed unaware of anything related to the letter. However, we are hopeful of soon identifying the person who sent the letters,” a police officer said.
Jayapalan lives near the Kottaram Bhagavathy temple in Maradu and operated autorickshaw services from the Ambedkar Junction autorickshaw stand. His family includes his 95-year-old mother Lakshmi Bhai, wife Mani and two sons — Vyshakh, an electrician, and Vishnu, a homoeopathy doctor. His wife works as a sweeper at the Chottanikkara homoeopathy hospital.
After winning the Onam bumper, Jayapalan had said that he would pay off his debts first. The lottery ticket was submitted to Canara Bank’s Pallinada branch.