New Delhi, Jun 13 (IANS): While some of their counterparts were pelting stones to vent their anger at security forces in Kashmir, 40 IIT aspirants from the troubled valley were quietly undergoing coaching with the Indian Army during the months of unrest in pursuit of their dreams of studying technology at the premier engineering schools in India.

And when the results of the Joint Entrance Examination-Advanced were declared on June 11, nine of these Super-40 students had cracked the engineering entrance test, considered one of the toughest exams in India.

Some 28, including two women, from the army's Super-40 coaching initiative had cracked the IIT-JEE mains exam this year.

On Tuesday, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat met and complimented some of the "Super-40" students here, an official said.

The army conducts coaching at Srinagar with its training partner Centre for Social Responsibility and Learning (CSRL) and Petronet LNG.

The initiative for coaching Kashmiri students for engineering entrance examinations was launched in 2013.