A Patiala court has given a two-year jail sentence to renowned Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi in a human trafficking case that is nearly two decades old.
The Patiala court on Thursday announced the verdict in a review hearing of the 2018 judgment, that had found Daler Mehndi guilty on the charges of human trafficking and ordered him for two years of imprisonment in relation to the case.
The court bench on Thursday decided to uphold its judgment delivered in 2018 when Mehndi was sentenced to two years in jail but was later let out on bail. The Punjabi singer has been convicted in a 2003 human trafficking case.
An FIR was filed against Daler Mehndi in the Sadar Patiala police station back in 2003, and he was later convicted on the charges of sections 406, 420, 120B, 465, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Indian Passport Act.
The Patiala police had booked Daler Mehndi, his deceased brother Shamsher Singh and two others in relation to the 2003 human trafficking case. After the first complaint was registered, 35 other such cases were filed against the Punjabi singer.
As per the complaint filed against the Punjabi singer, he and the other accused had taken a sum of Rs 12 lakhs from some people in exchange for sending them to foreign countries illegally, mostly the United States and Canada.
Hard evidence was found against the singer the police conducted investigations in his office in New Delhi and seized several documents. As per the evidence found by the police, Daler Mehndi had promised people to send them abroad as a part of their dance group in their foreign shows in exchange for money.
