Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, manager fined Rs 15 lakh each

Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and his manager Maroof have been fine Rs 15 lakh each for carrying over $ 1 lakh without declaration while boarding a flight from Delhi to Dubai on Feb 13.

They were booked under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Customs Act.

Unless they pay the penalty immediately they will not be allowed to leave India, reports said.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Saturday grilled Rahat Fateh Ali Khan over recovery of unaccounted foreign currency from him at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here and slapped Customs Act violation charges on him.

This was the third time the singer faced DRI interrogation since his detention on Feb 13.

Completing the probe on Khan?s case, the DRI had reportedly sent the issue for adjudication by Commissioner Customs (Airports).

On Thursday and Friday, Khan was grilled by intelligence officials for over 10 hours respectively.

Khan was released on Monday (Feb 14), 28 hours after being detained and questioned by revenue intelligence officials.

He was released after the Pakistani government stepped in and asked that the singer be let out of the ?protective custody? immediately, media reports said.

Rahat and his entire troupe of 16 members were detained at the IGI airport after nearly USD 1.24 lakh was recovered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from the singer and two of his associates.

?The DRI officers found altogether 1,24,000 USD which is equivalent to about Rs 60 lakhs. 24,000 USD were found from the baggage carried by Rahat while the remaining 50,000 USD each were found from the baggage of two troupe members,? officials at the airport said.

The recovered foreign currency included USD 10,000 and USD 8,600 in demand drafts.