Final-year students of NIT, Adityapur, at Tata Main Hospital on Wednesday; and (below) the check dam on Kharkai near the campus where the youths drowned. Pictures by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Jan. 18: Three final-year students of NIT, Adityapur, who had bagged plum placements in the tech cradle’s record job season in 2011-12, drowned near a check dam on the Kharkai river, 3km from campus, this afternoon.

Prasun Anand (22), Pawne Aditya Vardhan (22) and Sudhir Kumar (21) did not know how to swim.

Sources at NIT said the trio, accompanied by six other final-year students, had planned a day out at the picturesque Asangi check dam and were at the riverbank around 2pm.

One of the students said Prasun and Sudhir decided to make a splash. “They went down to take a bath but failed to gauge the depth and current of the water. Sensing something was amiss, Pawne instinctively jumped in to rescue them, but since none of them knew how to swim, they all drowned. It was 2.30pm and we retrieved their bodies a little later with the help of local villagers,” he said.

Another friend remembered the trio as jovial and co-operative. “I am shocked. They were my batchmates. I was supposed to join them in the trip, which was planned this morning, but I got delayed while returning from Sakchi,” he said.

Prasun and Sudhir from Bokaro and Pawne from Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) had recently been creamed off by top-notch companies.

Electronics student Prasun was supposed to join Samsung Siso in Bangalore this July for an annual package of Rs 5 lakh. Classmate Pawne had a double delight in store — Rs 6 lakh packages each from communications giant Ericsson and global leader in mobile solutions Comviva.

Metallurgy student Sudhir, on the other hand, was headed for Hyderabad, where he would have joined Mew Sigma — leading providers of decision sciences and analytics services — for an annual remuneration of Rs 4 lakh.

A faculty member of the electronics department said Prasun was a very bright student. “He was a representative in the training and placement cell and played a crucial role in inviting companies to campus. He had done a great job this season,” his mentor said.

NIT’s director in-charge S.B.L. Saxena said the three were boarders at Hostels E and F, and had not informed their warden before going to Asangi.

“Normally, we refuse permission to students because the check dam area is rocky and risky. Besides, in certain stretches the water is very deep,” he said.

“Immediately after being informed about the incident, we rushed an ambulance to the spot and took the students to hospital, but unfortunately could not save them,” Saxena added. The three were declared brought dead at Tata Main Hospital.

A faculty member, on condition of anonymity, said they were contemplating a ban on day trips to water bodies. “We strongly feel that students should be forbidden from frequenting riverbanks and dams. We will ask student representatives and hostel wardens to ensure that this measure is enforced in right earnest,” he said.

NIT has decided to suspend classes tomorrow. “We are shocked and sad. The bodies have been sent to MGM Medical College for autopsy and we have informed the parents of the three students about the tragic incident,” said an official.

This is not the first time such a tragedy has numbed NIT. Sources recalled that in July 1996, two final-year students had drowned in similar manner in the Kharkai.