Guwahati, Aug 10: Union Minister of State for Railways, Rajen Gohain, has been booked by the Assam police on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation. The FIR has been registered by the Nagaon police station, reports said on Friday.

While Gohain has refrained from speaking to the media, his officer-on-special duty (OSD) Sanjiv Goswami said the rape case has been withdrawn by the complainant.

Nagaon police station officer-in-charge Ananta Das, while confirming to news agency PTI that the woman has pleaded to withdraw the case, said the law will take its own course and only quash the FIR after completing the probe.

The case against the 67-year-old Minister was registered on August 2, confirmed Nagaon deputy superintendent of police (headquarter) Sabita Das. As per the complaint, Gohain has been booked under IPC sections 417 (cheating), 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

The complaint says that the alleged incident took place seven to eight months ago at the victim's home in Nagaon district. "Both Gohain and the woman knew each other for a long time and the Union minister used to visit her home,” the official said.

The alleged rape was committed when the husband of the woman was not present at their home, Das added.

On being asked whether the Minister would be arrested, Das said it would depend upon the result of their investigation. "We are probing now. If required, arrest will happen only after the probe is complete," he added.

Gohain's OSD told reporters that the Minister has filed counter-complaints against the woman, accusing her of blackmailing him. Reports, however, have alleged that the victim is being forced to withdraw the rape charge by "Gohen's men". A purported audio clip has also been released in which a man is heard asking the complainant's family to withdraw the FIR at the earliest.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 10, 2018 10:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).