Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh): Nusrat Khan's feat has given Azamgarh town, especially its Shibli Inter College (SIC), something to exult over after the terror taint.

Khan has topped the Uttaranchal Provincial Judiciary Service Exams 2008, and after a year of training will become a civil judge.

He is a former student of the same SIC where Atif Amin, a suspected terrorist killed by police in a shoot out for his involvement in the Delhi bombings, did his schooling.

Nusrat originally hails from Mau district in Uttar Pradesh.

"Not only SIC, the entire Azamgarh residents will be proud of Nusrat's achievement," an elated SIC principal Abu Mohammad told sources.

"It is a welcome change for Azamgarh, which has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons," he added.

In the last two months nearly a dozen youths hailing from Azamgarh have been jailed on charges of being involved in terror bombings in various parts of the country.

One such youth, Abu Bashar, was arrested in August for his alleged role in the July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts. Another, Sajid, was killed in a shoot out with Delhi Police on September 19 in Jamia Nagar for his alleged involvement in the September 13 bombings at the national capital. The bombings in the two cities left more than 75 people dead.

"With Nusrat's achievement, it appears that the dark phase over the town will end soon," said Mohammad.

"We are just praying that more and more students associated with Azamgarh come out with flying colours in different competitive exams of the country," he added.

Nusrat, 26, is one of the 19 candidates who have made it to the all-India examination conducted by the Uttaranchal Public Service Commission.

After completing his Class 12 from SIC in 1999, Nusrat headed to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), from where he completed his Bachelors and his Law degrees - LLB and LLM.

"I do not know if any suspected terrorist had studied in this college or not," said Nusrat.

"What I know about the college is that it has played a crucial role in building my career. I owe my success to all SIC teachers, who have made me what I am today," he added. IANS