Minutes after Daler Mehendi was sentenced to two years in jail in a 2003 human trafficking case by a court in Patiala, the Punjabi pop singer has been granted bail, according to news agency ANI.

The 50-year-old singer was convicted earlier today in a judgment by Patiala Court and immediately taken into custody by the Punjab Police.

Daler Mehndi enjoyed a massive following in the late 90s and early 2000s for his pop songs, including hit numbers Tunak Tunak Tun and Saade Naal Rahoge Toh...

Apparently, Daler and his brother, Shamsher Singh were accused of illegally sending people abroad disguised as members of the pop singer’s troupe charging hefty "passage money." As reported by PTI, the Mehndi brothers had allegedly taken two troupes in 1998 and 1999 during the course of which 10 persons were taken to the US as group members and were "dropped off" illegally.

A case against Mehndi, his brother Shamsher and some of his associates were registered by the Patiala police following a complaint filed by one Bakshish Singh of Balbehra village in Punjab in 2003. Soon after that complaint, Daler was arrested but was released on a bail in just a few days.

In 2006, Patiala Police filed two discharge petitions stating Daler Mehndi to be innocent, but the court had upheld that the singer was prosecuted as there was "sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation".

Daler’s brother, Shamsher passed away in October 2017. He was apparently suffering from jaundice. Shamsher was also a part of the troupe and performed with Daler for several stage shows.