Two farmers, who fell into a 300 feet deep tunnel linking Nira and Bhima rivers in Pune district of Maharashtra and went missing, were found dead hours later and their bodies were fished out, police said on Thursday.

The deceased, Anil Bapurao Narute and Ratilal Balbhim Narute, fell down into the tunnel around 5.30 pm on Wednesday and their bodies were recovered around midnight, they said.

The duo was pulling up a submersible water pump through an open shaft of the tunnel near Akole village in Indapur tehsil when the rope snapped and they fell down, a district administration official had said.

"The bodies of the two farmers were fished out around midnight and sent for post-mortem," inspector Vikram Salunke of Walchandnagar police station said.

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