Kerala JEE topper eyes IIT-Madras

Kochi: Roshan Raju, a native of Amalapuram near Angamaly, emerged as Kerala topper in JEE Advanced 2026, securing an All India Rank (AIR) of 134. The results of the engineering entrance examination were announced on Monday.A student of KE School, Mannanam in Kottayam, Roshan prepared for the examination at an entrance coaching centre in Pala while pursuing his Plus One and Plus Two studies.Consistent practice played a key role in his success, Roshan said. “There are no shortcuts to scoring well. I used to write nearly 30 model tests over a period of two months. The mock examinations conducted by the coaching centre greatly helped me,” he said.Roshan hopes to secure admission to Computer Science programme at IIT Madras and aspires to build a career as a game developer.“We expected him to secure a good rank, but becoming the state topper exceeded our expectations,” said his father Raju K K, manager at KSFE regional office in Kakkanad.Among Kerala candidates, Vishnav ENK of Thrissur secured the second rank, while Dev Nair from Ernakulam finished third.Across the nation, a total of 1,79,694 candidates appeared in both papers 1 and 2 in JEE (Advanced) 2026, held on May 17. In this exam, 56,880 candidates have qualified, of which 10,107 are females.The exam was conducted in double shifts. The timing of the JEE was for three hours. Paper 1 was conducted in the morning shift from 9am to 12 noon, and Paper 2 was conducted in the afternoon shift from 2pm to 5pm.