NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police have nabbed a 42-year-old make-up artist who earned his bread and butter by making his clients look older — much older than their real age. Billu Barber was picked up by the police for his over-ambitious attempt at trying to convert a 32-year-old into an octogenarian.
People, the world over, pay thousands to look younger than their actual age. They try several therapies, chemicals, herbal packs, make-up and even surgery. But what transpired at IGI airport on September 8, when 32-year-old Jayesh Patel was arrested by immigration officials, was a different ball game altogether.
Patel, who was due to pay an agent Rs 30 lakh to fly him to the US, had landed up at a salon in Patel Nagar with the dream of a make-up job.
Unfortunately, for Patel, the make-up artist he put his trust in turned out to be more incompetent than the agent who made Patel’s fake passport.
Soon after his arrest, Patel led the police to the now ‘infamous’ make-up artist, popularly known as Billu Barber. A resident of Rohini, Billu aka Shamsher Singh, ran a hair and make-up salon in Patel Nagar, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, IGI, Sanjay Bhatia.
Billu is the owner of the salon and had a staff of five working for him.
According to the police, Billu has attempted his half-baked make-up job on 10 other people before Patel. The police are now looking for his earlier ‘clients’ which include two women as well. He charged Rs 20,000 for his services.
“He was working as a make-up artist and to augment his earnings he agreed to modify the appearances of people. He led our team to his shop where cosmetics and material used for hair colour were recovered,” a police officer said.