Jajpur: Fire services and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (Odraf) teams are conducting a search operation in the Kharasrota river in Jajpur Sadar police limits of the district to rescue an unidentified woman, who was allegedly pushed into the river by some unknown criminals on Friday night.

Police fear that the woman may have drowned in the river. Jajpur Sadar police sources said local people residing close to the river near the Rajghat bridge heard a woman crying for help on the bridge on Friday night.

Reaching the spot, they, however, found that the woman had already fallen into the river.

"We heard the scream of a woman for help on the river bridge and reached there. But to our dismay, we saw the woman was already in the river and crying for help. She was shouting that she had been pushed into the river from the bridge by some people," local resident Manoranjan Behera said, adding that no one ventured into the river at night as the current was strong.

The local people immediately informed Jajpur Sadar police station about the incident. "On being informed by the local people, we reached the spot. But by that time, the woman had been swept away far from the river bridge at Budhaghata. We then called both the fire services and Odraf teams and started a search operation throughout the night. However, we are yet to find her. On Saturday, we carried on with the search operation, but in vain," said Manoranjan Das of Jajpur Sadar police station.

The police suspected the unknown woman had been raped before being pushed into the Kharasrota river from the bridge.

"We suspect that the criminals must have kidnapped and then raped the woman. Later, they dumped her into the river to eliminate evidence," he said.

"It is presumed that anticipating trouble, the criminals pushed the woman into the river," said Das, adding that two or three people could be involved in the crime.

"It is our prime concern to trace the woman and ascertain her identity. We have intimated local police stations in the area. We want more information,"said the police officer.