Tukuna Patra (40) allegedly confined the 35-year-old woman in his shop at Haripur in Kuakhia area, about 15 km from here on Tuesday night on the pretext of searching for a gold chain which he claimed was missing, police said.
In a complaint lodged with Kuakhia police station yesterday, the woman from a village in adjoining Bhadrak district said the incident happened when she visited the shop to replace a gold chain she had purchased the previous day, Inspector In-charge of Kuakhia police station B K Aich said.
The woman alleged that the shop owner accused her of having stolen a gold chain and took her into a room to conduct a search where he outraged her modesty, he said.
A hunt has been launched to nab the jewellery shop owner who is absconding, the IIC said.