Dharmendra Kumar Bhartee (40) and Hafiz Ahmad (36) had gone to fish accompanied by some friends yesterday, police said.
The duo passed current in the river from a nearby electric pole as a tactic to kill fish, but in an ironic twist of fate, they themselves got electrocuted in the process, they said.
Their friends rushed to their aid and cut the electric wire but it was too late, police said.
The bodies were sent for postmortem.