Due to industrial development the sulfide ions are present in excess in the effluents from tanneries, whereas ceramic and glass industries are the major contributors of fluoride ions. The concentration of these ions is beyond permissible limit in water bodies, thereby causing serious health issues. An attempt is made to highlight the effectiveness of chemical modification of rice bran with zinc chloride for the removal of sulfide and fluoride ions from aqueous solutions. Batch mode adsorption study was conducted. Mechanism of adsorption was explored by applying the isothermal models like Langmuir and Freundlich. Maximum adsorption capacity (mg/g) revealed that zinc chloride modification of rice bran increased the sulfide and fluoride removal from 3.79 mg/g to 7.08 mg/g and 1.37 mg/g to 2.06 mg/g, respectively. Sulfide ions were more efficiently eliminated using the selected adsorbent in its modified form.