Help: Locals take the bodies of three men, who drowned yesterday, to a nearby hospital. pic/SHWETA PATIL

The police believes that the two youngsters Rohan Rajadhyaksha (20) and Abhay Ubale (20) who drowned in a stream near Khandala yesterday, could have been saved if they had not left their driver More's hand.

When all three of them were in the water struggling to save themselves, they saw a fourth person approaching towards them and panicked, Rohan and Abhay left More's hand and clung on to another youth Murli Venkat Reddy (21).

The incident

Yesterday, Rohan and Abhay  decided to take a bath in the stream, when they started to drown. More rushed to help them. Reddy, who was also present at the spot, heard them shout for help, and he too jumped in.

The police believe as Rohan and Abhay left More's hands and went on to clung Murli, all of three of them drowned. Had one of them held More's hand, More and Murli could have managed to bring both of them ashore. 

Investigating officer Mulla from Lonavala police station, said, "Rohan and Abhay had first clung to More, but both of them grabbed Murli's hand when they saw him coming." The police said More must have managed to swim ashore.

Rohan and Abhay's friend Santosh Dhauskar (21), who was also travelling with them, did not jump in, as he can't swim.

The trio were travelling in a Sumo to Pune.

The bodies will undergo post mortem after 11 am today. Rohan and Abhay are Mumbai residents and Murli is a Pune resident.