Intermediate topper Suraj Kumar. Picture by Uma Shankar Dubey

Jamshedpur, June 2: Like father, like son.

Suraj has made his father proud by topping the state in the intermediate of science examination, results of which were declared by the Jharkhand Acadmic Council this morning in Ranchi.

Suraj’s father had also topped the state (undivided Bihar) in the pharmacy examination way back in 1978.

The unassuming youth, a student of Karim City College, managed to score 763 marks out of 900. This is the first time that a city student has topped the state after the formation of Jharkhand.

“It is a surprise for me. I knew I had done well. At the time of answering the examination, I knew that my name would figure some where among the top 10 students in the state,” said Suraj when The Telegraph caught him at his residence in Gamharia.

Suraj, along with his parents and some of his local friends, were gossiping in front of his house. Soon after the results were announced, Suraj rushed to a nearby Internet cafe and surfed for results.

“I skipped a few heartbeats when I saw the results. And later, I told my friends to crosscheck it. They scanned the results and told me that I have got the highest. It is the blessings of my parents, teachers and well-wishers that I did so well,” he added.

It was his childhood dream to top in an examination in the state. ”Unfortunately, I missed being among the top 10 students in the matric examination by one mark, but by grace of God, my dream of securing the first position in the intermediate examination has come true,” he added.

Coming from a simple middle class background, Suraj has an ambition to become an IAS officer, but before that he would like to be an engineer.

“I have started preparing for the entrance examination at the Indian Institute of Technology and I firmly believe that I will be able to achieve my target,” he said.

Suraj’s father Baleshwar Prasad Singh, an pharmacist in the Employee State Insurance Corporation Hospital, says his long-cherished dream has been fulfilled. “Suraj was very hard working since childhood. He missed the bus in the matric examination, but now he made the family proud,” Singh said.

Vice-principal of Karim City College Mohammad Riaz said they were expecting his name to figure on the list of toppers going by his performance in the matric examination and internal tests.