Daler Mehndi
Punjabi singer Daler MehndiInstagram

Punjabi pop sensation and Bollywood singer Daler Mehndi was convicted Friday, March 16, in a 15-year-old human trafficking case by a Patiala court. The singer was then sentenced to two years in prison, but was also granted bail by the court.

Mehndi had been booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. 

After getting bail, Daler said that he would appeal against on his conviction in high court.

The human-trafficking case was registered October 19, 2003, after a man named Bakshish Singh filed a complaint against the singer alleging that he was cheated of Rs 4.5 lakh by Mehndi and his brother, who had promised to send him abroad as a member of the singer's troupe.

Daler, his elder brother Shamsher Singh Mehndi and others were accused of illegally sending people abroad as members of his troupe. Hefty sums were charged from them.

The other two accused in the case were an agent named Bulbul Mehta and Dhian Singh.

Though the Mehndi brothers were initially arrested by the local police in 2003, they were given a clean chit later that year. 

The Mehndi brothers had been accused of taking 10 people to the US illegally as part of two troupes in 1998 and 1999.