Singer Daler Mehndi convicted in human trafficking case, gets bail

A court in Patiala on Friday convicted Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi in a 15-year-old human trafficking case. He was sentenced to two years in jail.

In the proceedings conducted at the Patiala Court in Punjab, the singer was found guilty and was sentenced. However, he was later let off with a fine of Rs 10,000 the same day.

It had been alleged that Mehndi, his brother Shamsher and other had duped several people with the promise of relocating them to the USA, by charging them a hefty sum. The Mehndi brothers allegedly took people to USA as troupe members but "dropped them off" illegally.

In 2003, one Bakshish Singh of Punjab's Balbehra village lodged a complaint alleging the accused duped him with the promise of sending him abroad.  The case was registered in 2003 in Patiala. Daler was subsequently arrested and released on bail after a few days.

In 2006, Patiala Police had filed two discharge petitions stating Daler Mehndi to be innocent, but the court set aside the petitions maintaining the singer was to be prosecuted/