Singer Daler Mehndi sent to jail in 2003 immigration fraud case

Advocate Gurpreet Singh Hundal, counsel for the complainant, said: “The sessions court court upheld his sentence. Mehndi filed another application in the court appealing that he should be released on probation of good conduct but that too has been dismissed by the court”.

The singer’s counsel, LM Gulati, said: “Unfortunately, the court’s verdict is not in our favour and his conviction has been upheld. We will immediately move the higher court and file an appeal. We are very hopeful for justice”.

Mehndi, a resident of Arjun Nagar in Delhi, his brother Shamsher Singh (now deceased) and six others were accused of cheating people by taking money on pretext of sending them abroad illegally.

An FIR was registered on September 19, 2003 at Patiala Sadar police station after one Bakshish Singh of Patiala’s Balbera village alleged that Mehndi and other accused had cheated him of Rs 13 lakh on the pretext of sending him to Canada.

The complainant had alleged said that the accused had demanded Rs 15 lakh but a deal was struck for Rs 12 lakh, which he paid. However, later they demanded an additional Rs 5 lakh for returning his passport, he alleged, adding that he could give them only Rs 1 lakh more. He had further alleged that the accused failed to send him to Canada, did not return the money and instead threatened to kill him. The complainant said that he had sold his land and took loans to give money to Mehndi.

The FIR was registered under sections 406, 420, 467, 465, 486, 471, 471-A, 120-B and 109 of IPC and relevant sections of the Indian Passport Act.

Advocate Hundal said that apart from Bakshish Singh, 30 other complainants submitted applications alleging fraud by Mehndi on pretext of sending them abroad. “Majority of them also got their statements recorded under section 161 of CrPC,” he added.

“Currently, Mehndi is the only one who has been jailed. His brother Shamsher and another accused Dhian Singh died during the trial. Tejinder Singh, Surinder Singh, Gurdial Singh and Parveen Kumar are absconding and declared proclaimed offenders, while Bulbul Mehta was acquitted,” said Hundal.

Inspector Gurdeep Singh, SHO Patiala Sadar police station said that after the court dismissed Mehndi’s plea, he was taken into custody. “He is being taken to Patiala jail,” said the SHO.

It was also alleged that Mehndi and his brother took two troupes to the US in 1998 and 1999 of which 10 youths were dropped off there illegally. Other complainants had alleged that they paid “passage money” to both brothers to make them reach the US but they failed to take them there.

The Patiala police had raided the singer’s offices in Connaught Place in New Delhi and seized case files of those who had paid the Mehndi brothers “passage money”.