Berhampur, Jan. 5: Rail police have arrested two autorickshaw drivers for allegedly trying to rape a 23-year-old Dalit woman near the railway station here. A third accused is absconding.

Deputy superintendent of the Government Railway Police, Khurda division, Devendra Kumar Das, who visited the railway station today, said the incident happened on Sunday night. The two accused - Kailash Behera, 21, and Mitika Sahu, 34 - were residents of Behera Nehru Nagar and Shastri Nagar, respectively.

"We have seized the auto, OD 07 K 0037, which was used to kidnap the woman from the railway station on Sunday night," said Das.

The woman, who hails from Chadheyapalli village near Buguda, reached the railway station at 10pm on Sunday. "I came from Balugaon alone by the Bhadrak-Berhampur Fast Passenger and asked an auto driver to drop me at New Bus Stand. When I sat in the auto, a person sat beside the driver in the front, and another person sat beside me," said the victim.

She, however, became suspicious when the autorickshaw took a left turn instead of right at Bijipur Square. When she asked the driver to stop, the person, who sat beside her, tried to overpower her. She managed to jump from the speeding auto and ran towards the railway platform, the police said.

The woman narrated her experience to some passengers at the railway platform. Some passengers took her to New Bus Stand. However, the three accused followed her to the bus stand.

"I raised an alarm when I saw the three at New Bus Stand. Some passengers and the police overpowered two of them. The third, however, managed to escape," she said.

Auto Drivers' Association secretary Muna Baig said the accused should be punished. "These three have defamed the auto drivers. Most of the auto drivers are honest, helpful and they respect women. The association would definitely take stringent action against these three auto drivers. We are going to throw them out of our association," he said. "Women are the most vulnerable at the railway station. The government must deploy more police. There must be a separate mahila thana (women's police station) here," said Pramila Tripathy, who runs a social organisation for distressed women.