Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi on Thursday was handed a two-year jail term by the Patiala district court in an 18-year-old human trafficking case. The singer was on bail as he had appealed against the trial court order. The singer has now been taken into custody and will be sent to Patiala jail where Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is also lodged.
But why is Mehndi, who has several chartbusters in his discography, going to spend two years in jail? Let us tell you all about the case:
1. In 2003, the singer and his brother Shamsher (now deceased), and two others were booked by the Patiala Police on the basis of a complained filed by a resident of Balbera village in the district.
2. The complainant Bakshish Singh alleged that the singer took ₹12 lakhs to send him to Canada. After the police registered his complaint, it received 35 more as all complainants alleged that the Mehndi brothers had promised to send them overseas illegally in return for money.
3. The Punjab Police claimed that the Mehndi brothers had taken two performance groups to the US in 1998 and 1999. During the tours, they allegedly dropped off ten group members illegally. Daler Mehndi's offices at Connaught Place in Delhi were raided by the Patiala Police which seized documents.
4. In 2006, the Patiala Police had filed two discharge petitions stating Mehndi to be innocent but the court insisted that he be prosecuted as there was sufficient evidence against him.
5. In 2018, he was convicted by a local court in Patiala and sentenced to two years in jail. However, he was later granted bail. The court of judicial magistrate had held Mehndi guilty under section 420 (Cheating) and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (Conspiracy). He was granted bail after he furnished a bail bond.