Indian pop singer Daler Mehndi jailed

A court in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Thursday sent popular pop star Daler Mehndi to jail, rejecting his appeal against a two-year prison term for trafficking migrants to the US.

The singer had been out on bail since his conviction in the case in 2018. 

"The singer was taken into custody by police soon after the court turned down his appeal against the sentence and cancelled his bail bond. He has to serve a prison term now," TS Bhargav, a lawyer, told the local media.

The case was filed by Punjab Police way back in 2003 after a probe revealed that Mehndi took some 10 migrants, disguised as dancers in his troupe, to the US and returned without them.

Subsequently, the singer was also booked and charged with wage theft and tax fraud after many people lodged complaints alleging that he took large sums of money on the pretext of taking them to Western countries.

- UNB