Chandigarh: Bhangra-pop singer Daler Mehndi was arrested on Thursday and sent to a jail after a local court in Punjab’s Patiala dismissed his plea against a two-year prison term in a 2003 human trafficking case. Mehndi was convicted along with his brother Shamsher Singh in March 2018 and later released on bail.

BREAKING: #DalerMehndi sentenced to 2-year jail by the Patiala court in the human trafficking case. Daler Mehndi was punished for two years on 16.03.18 by the JMIC Patiala. Now he is being sent to Patiala jail. The Patiala police has already taken him in its custody. pic.twitter.com/cEz9QTTGK7
— Griha Atul (@GrihaAtul) July 14, 2022

Mehndi and Singh were accused of collecting ‘passage money’ to take people mainly to the US and Canada by showing them as troupe members. Almost two decades ago, a man named Bakhshish Singh had filed a case in Patiala against the Punjabi singer and his brother alleging the brothers took two troupes to the US in 1998 and 1999, including 10 people for illegal immigration.

Singer Daler Mehndi's sentence of two-year jail, upheld by the Patiala session court in the human trafficking (kabooterbazi) case on Thursday. Now he is being sent to Patiala jail. The Patiala police has taken him in their custody. pic.twitter.com/WL8LZ6xgwN
— Gagandeep Singh (@Gagan4344) July 14, 2022

“They took Rs 13 lakh from me. Neither did they send me abroad, nor did they return my money,” Bakhshish Singh.

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After investigating the case, the police officials had stated that the singers and other performers ran a well-organised racket to illegally immigrate Punjabi youth by making them part of musical troupes and the youth were charged up to Rs 20 lakhs in each case. Mehndi’s brother Shamsher Singh died in 2017 while the trial was still on.