Daler Mehndi convicted of human trafficking, gets two years jail time

In today's bizarre news, Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi has been sentenced to two years in prison after he was convicted in a 2003 human trafficking case by a court in Delhi on Friday, reports NDTV.

Mehdi and his brother Shamsher Singh had been accused of sending people abroad by illegally disguising them as members of his troupe after charging exorbitant "passage money". The brothers allegedly had taken two troupes in 1998 and 1999 during the course of which 10 people were taken to the U.S as group members and "dropped off" illegally.

On a trip to the U.S with an actress, Mehdi reportedly "dropped off" three women in San Francisco, and on a later trip, also "dropped off" three men in New Jersey.

Soon after the Patiala Police registered a case against the duo, more complaints of fraud came forward.

The complaints stated that two brothers had taken "passage money" from them to help people migrate to the US "illegally", but had failed to do so. Patiala Police has also raided the singer's offices, seizing case documents including a case file of those who had already paid the supposed passage money.

Update: The singer was reportedly taken into custody by the Punjab Police, soon after his conviction was announced but was granted bail less than half an hour later.