Indore, Aug. 5: The bodies of two IIM Indore students who drowned at a riverside picnic spot last evening were found today.

The Friendship Day outing had turned horribly wrong for Neha Singh and Nitesh Agarwal, who were swept away by the currents of the turbulent Choral river. Nitesh, 24, is from Delhi and Neha, 23, from Hyderabad.

Indore police superintendent Anshuman Yadav said their screams for help were muffled by the sound of the gushing water. Army divers from nearby Mhow and fire brigade personnel were part of the team that fished out the bodies.

Fire brigade inspector Y.S. Solanki said one body was found at Surthi Khera village, 4km from the picnic spot. The other was recovered near Purtipura, 8km away.

Institute director S.P. Parashar said the students had been warned against swimming in the area, which is known as the Choral picnic spot and is 20km from the town.

“The water comes gushing down from the hills. Apparently, the villagers had also asked the students to come out of the water but they did not listen,” said Parashar, shocked at the incident, the first of its kind at IIM Indore.

But witness Piyush Tiwari said the events were too fast and abrupt. “The two were sitting on a rock. Initially, the water was calm but there were rains in the mountains and because of that, there was a flash flood in the river. Then suddenly, they were gone.”

The relatives are in shock. Kanika, Nitesh’s sister-in-law, claimed the IIM authorities “did not brief them properly”. “We came to know from friends.” She was told that a group of four students went to the site on bikes. “When the friends and villagers did not find the body till last night, they called home.”

Kanika said Nitesh had last spoken to her around 1pm yesterday but had not mentioned the picnic. This has led her to believe that the outing was “impromptu”. “When he spoke to us, he said all was well,” she said.

Neha and Nitesh were second-year students. Kanika said Nitesh had a bright career ahead of him: he scored 99.4 per cent in his first year at IIM.

Police superintendent Yadav said there have been around 80 deaths at the spot in the past five years. In the past week alone, five persons died. “There is a need for an awareness campaign,” he added.