An Indian lottery winner said he was so overwhelmed by the number of requests for financial help that he regretted winning the lottery’s top prize, the BBC and Agerpres reported on Monday.

Anup, a driver from the southern Indian state of Kerala, won 250 million rupees ($3.06 million) in a drawing organized by the state lottery in early September. But already a week later, he published a video appeal on the Internet, in which he asked strangers to stop bothering him with requests for financial assistance.

“I wish I didn’t win. Perhaps a third prize would be better in terms of value,” he said. In the same video message, Anoop also said that he is thinking of moving to another house to avoid excessive public attention.

He appeared on the front pages of several Indian national newspapers after winning this jackpot, the biggest ever offered by the Kerala state lottery.

The Indian driver bought the lottery ticket on September 17 – a day before he flew to Malaysia for work – after breaking into his son’s piggy bank. After his win was reported by the media, his family received significant media attention.

A man in India was attacked with pleas for help

“I was very happy when I won. There were many people and video cameras in front of our house, and we were all very happy,” he said in the same video address. But the situation got out of control very quickly, he added:

“Now I can’t leave the house, I can’t go anywhere. My child is sick and I can’t take her to the doctor.”

Anup, who will receive Rs 150 million after deducting government taxes, also said that many people have started turning up at his house every morning.

“All I can tell everyone is that I haven’t received any money yet. Nobody seems to understand my problem when I tell them,” he added.

The Indian driver added that he and his family had moved in with a relative to avoid this unwanted attention.

The Kerala government has announced that it will provide Anup with a daily financial management training program to help him use his lottery winnings wisely.