Two Class XII students of Ranchi drowned and two others had a close shave on Thursday, the afternoon tragedy at Jonha Falls being a grim reminder of the death of another schoolboy at Hundru Falls in June.

Sameer Vishwakarma (19), a student of Marwari College, and Divyayan Bhattacharya (18) of Surendranath Centenary School had bunked classes to take their girlfriends, both intermediate students of St Xavier’s College, for a trip to the waterfalls, 40km from the state capital.

The group reportedly ignored warnings from paryatak mitras to venture into the waters just like Greenland Public School student Noor Alam (16) who had drowned at Hundru, 2km away, on June 28.

Dhananjay Mahto, a tourist guard on duty, said the mishap took place around 2pm. “The youths did not respond to warnings that the rocks were slippery. They drowned in 15-20ft of water,” he said, adding that they fished out the bodies, which were then sent to RIMS.

A local resident said the boys and girls, who perhaps didn’t know how to swim, lost balance and started sinking underwater. “Paryatak mitras managed to save the girls, but were too late for the boys.”

Another resident, not willing to be quoted, said the same boys had visited Jonha last year and had had a heated argument with tourist guards over drinking at the falls.

Sources said Sameer was a resident of Fataulla Masjid Lane in Lower Bazaar while Divyayan lived at Bank Colony in Kokar, Lalpur. The girls are from Lalpur and Kutchery. The couples went to Jonha on a bike and a scooter.

Sameer’s father, Krishna Kumar Vishwakarma, a kidney patient, reached the spot after receiving the news about his only son. “I was not unaware of Sameer’s trip. If I did, I wouldn’t have encouraged it,” he wept inconsolably.

Police said Divyayan was also the only son of his parents, his father a chartered accountant based in Durgapur.

Principal of Surendranath Centenary School Smitha Sinha expressed concern over the growing trend among teenagers to disregard safety advices. She said Divyayan was a commerce student, average in his studies. “He was quiet boy by nature. He had not come to school today (Thursday). We are shocked,” she said.