The singer was taken into police custody from Punjab after he was found guilty in the case and the quantum of punishment will be announced later.

Popular singer Daler Mehendi was convicted in the 2003 immigration scandal case by Patiala Court on Friday afternoon. The singer was taken into police custody from Punjab after he was found guilty in the case. He was sentenced to two years in prison by the court. He was, however, given bail later. The actor was accused of sending people abroad and had allegedly dropped off 3 girls in San Francisco. Apart from Daler, his brother, Shamsher Singh was also accused of illegally sending people abroad disguised as members of his troupe by charging hefty ‘passage money’.

The brothers had allegedly taken another troupe to US in October 1999 where they had ‘dropped off’ three other boys at New Jersey in the company of some other actor. The complaint was filed by Bakshish Singh with the Patiala Police. Daler and Samsher are accused of at least 35 more other charges which include fraud. The brothers had allegedly taken ”passage money” for helping people migrate to US but failed to deliver what they had promised.

Bakshish of Balbehra village had accused that the brothers had duped him of his money. He had allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to the brothers who had demanded the sum on the pretext of sending him to the US but never did. Shamsher was a part of Daler’s troupe and performed at several shows. He passed away in October 2017. The accused was also a songwriter and record producer.

Patiala Police had raided Mehendi’s office in Connaught Place and had seized documents which included the case file of those who had paid him for illegal passage to US. Patiala Police had filed two discharge petitions in 2006, stating the innocence of the Punjabi pop star. But the court upheld the discharge petition saying there was sufficient evidence against him.