Rahat smuggled out lakhs last yr

Nearly a week after being caught leaving India with Rs 70 lakh, Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has admitted to smuggling out nearly $80,000 (around Rs 36 lakh) last year as well.

Nearly a week after being caught leaving India with Rs 70 lakh, Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has admitted to smuggling out nearly $80,000 (around Rs 36 lakh) last year as well.

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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has confiscated foreign currency and instruments worth Rs 69.99 lakh, with which Khan and his manager Maroof Ali were caught while leaving for Pakistan from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on February 13.

The agency has also slapped a penalty of Rs 15 lakh each on Khan, who sings for Bollywood movies, and Ali.

The duo, whose passports are with the DRI, will be allowed to leave the country after depositing the penalty.

"Diaries seized from Rahat's event manager Chitresh Srivastava had mentioned payments to the sufi singer during his trip to India last year. Rahat had then smuggled out around $80,000 from India," a source said.

When Khan, Ali and Srivastava were confronted with these diaries, the singer admitted to smuggling money last year too, the source said.