Patiala, Mar 05: A local court here today rejected the plea of the Patiala police for discharge of noted Indi-pop singer Daler Mehndi in the illegal human trafficking case. The court of senior sub-judge PS Dhanoa directed the police to investigate the case afresh.

The court directed the Patiala police to investigate the case afresh and conduct verification of all the documents and present a report.

No time limit has been fixed for the presentation of the report in the court.

The case can be reinvestigated either by the special investigation team headed by superintendent of police RL Monga or the station house officer of Sadar police station where the case was registered in October last year, it said.
The Patiala police had sought the discharge of Daler Mehndi on the plea that no concrete evidence of illegal human trafficking was found against the singer.

The singer's counsel told the court that Daler Mehndi had fully cooperated with the Patiala police in the investigation of the case. He maintained that the singer had a fixed troupe which went abroad with him.

Daler, arrested by the Patiala police, had alleged that he had been framed in the case after he declined to meet the demand by some police officials for Rs 1.50 crore for keeping him out. Bureau Report