Daler Mehndi sentenced to jail in human trafficking case
New Delhi: Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi was on Friday convicted in a 2003 human trafficking case by a court in Patiala. He was sentenced to two years in jail and was later granted bail.
“I have been granted bail. We will appeal in higher court,” the singer said.
The Patiala police had booked Daler Mehndi and his brother Shamsher Mehndi — who died last year — on a complaint filed by one Bakshish Singh. Around 35 more complaints, levelling charges of fraud against the brothers, came up later.
The complainants had alleged that the Mehandi brothers had taken ‘passage money’ from them to help them migrate to the US illegally, but failed to do so.
It was also alleged that Mehndi brothers had taken two troupes in 1998 and 1999 during which 10 people were taken to the US as group members and were “dropped off” illegally.
Patiala Police had even raided the offices of Daler Mehndi at Connaught Place in New Delhi and seized documents, including the case file of those who had paid the alleged “passage money” to Mehndi brothers.
In 2006, Patiala Police filed two discharge petitions stating Daler Mehndi to be innocent, but the court had upheld that the singer be prosecuted as there was “sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation”.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Mohali schools receive bomb threat emails, Fortis Hospital also mentioned
Chandigarh (PTI): Some schools in Punjab's Mohali received bomb threat emails on Tuesday, which also mentioned Fortis Hospital, prompting police to launch search operation, officials said.
"The bomb threat to schools also mentioned the Fortis Hospital in Mohali, where we conducted anti-sabotage checks. Non-essential services were kept on hold while essential services continued," a senior police official said in Mohali.
He said the police were conducting checks in the schools.
Security had already been strengthened in and around Fortis hospital in Mohali after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was admitted there. Chief Minister Mann was re-admitted in the hospital on Monday evening, hours after he was discharged from the health facility. Mann was admitted again after he experienced exhaustion, said sources.
On Wednesday, sixteen private schools in Mohali had received bomb threat emails, triggering evacuation and prompting detailed anti-sabotage checks by police.
However, after detailed inspection, no suspicious or explosive material was found at any of the locations.
The latest scare comes close on the heels of similar threats in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Haryana schools. All threats turned out to be hoaxes.
