As many as 28 students from Patna’s “Super 30”, the institute run by mathematician Anand Kumar and police officer Abhyanand, have managed to crack this year’s IIT entrance examination.

This is fifth time in a row that the institute has enabled students from poor and backward families to enter the country’s premier engineering institutes. Pranav Prince topped the Super 30 team with an all India rank of 162. Prince’s mother sews clothes to support a family of five after his father lost his job. Shyam Ratan, who lost his father when he was in Class X, is ranked 4,466. “This once again confirms that talent goes beyond caste, creed and economic background,” said Abhyanand, who teaches Physics.