Kishor and his 16-year-old girlfriend had drowned even as police beat marshals managed to rescue two other couples after they were swept away by high tide while sitting on the rocks off Bandra’s Searock hotel on Sunday.

According to friends, Kishor had joined a private company at the Ansa Industrial Estate as an office boy a few months ago and was very enthusiastic about his new job.

Mukesh Chandanshive, a relative, said: “Kishor had told me that he actually wanted to go out with his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. But since he had joined his new office a couple of months back and wouldn’t get an off on Valentine’s Day, he decided to make up for it by taking her out on Sunday. Kishor had met the girl a few months back.”

Said Santosh Torne (20), one of his friends: “Kishor was a very nice boy. He never meddled in anyone’s business and usually kept to himself. He loved cricket and enjoyed hanging out with his friends.”

Torne said, “I know the place where Kishor had gone is very dangerous. A couple of years back, I too had gone there with a friend and almost got stuck when the tide suddenly rose up to our armpits. We managed to get out with great difficulty. He should not have gone there.”

Another youth, who knew both Kishor and his girlfriend, said, “The police wrongly announced the girl's age in her 20s. She is actually a student of Standard 12.”

He, however, refused to give details saying they didn't want to put the girl’s family in any kind of a trouble.