Daler Mehndi sentenced to 2 years in jail in human trafficking case, granted bail

Daler and his brother, Shamsher Singh, had been accused of illegally sending people abroad disguised as members of his troupe by charging hefty "passage money."

Minutes after Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi was sentenced to two years in prison in a 2003 human trafficking case, he was granted bail by Patiala court as well.

Daler and his brother, Shamsher Singh, had been accused of illegally sending people abroad disguised as members of his troupe by charging hefty "passage money."

It had been alleged that Mehndi brothers had taken two troupes in 1998 and 1999 during the course of which 10 persons were taken to the US as group members and were "dropped off" illegally.

In 2006, Patiala Police filed two discharge petitions stating Daler Mehndi to be innocent, but the court had upheld that the singer is prosecuted as there was "sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation".

(With agency inputs)