Hyderabad: Barber’s ‘hair regrowth lotion’ sends bald men to hospital, goes into hiding

Wakil, employed at Big Boss Saloon on Fateh Darwaza Road, first shaved the customers' heads before applying a white lotion with a brush. He then advised them to refrain from using shampoo, soap, or hair oil for three consecutive days to ensure the treatment's full effect.

Hyderabad: A desire to have full grown hair landed many bald men in hospital after a barber applied some lotion on their bald pate assuring regrowth of hair.

The incident happened at Chandulal Baradari in the old city where a barber cum social media influencer from Delhi, Wakil Salmani, started claiming that he could help with regrowth of hair.

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Wakil, who works at Big Boss saloon at Fateh Darwaza road initially shaved off the head and then applied a white lotion using a brush on the head of the people. The customers were then asked not to use shampoo, soap or hair oil for three consecutive days so that the medicine shows its effect properly.

Initially, Wakil promoted his business through instagram and facebook. The posts went viral and dozens of men old and young started descending at the saloon daily from far across the city.

The crowds began to swell each passing day with people coming in cars and auto rickshaws resulting in the traffic chaos on the busy route inviting criticism from local residents. At this point, Wakil decided to run the show from an open boundary a little near his saloon. He placed a couple of chairs and set up a temporary tarpaulin shed and started working from here.

Mohd Tajuddin, a local resident said, everyday 100 to 150 people were queuing to get the lotion applied. “He collected Rs. 100 for shaving the head and told the people that the lotion was applied for free. He claimed, if he collected money for lotion it would not show effect,” said Tajuddin.

The business continued until a couple of days ago when some people developed rashes on their head after applying the lotion and reached hospitals. The news spread and it reached Wakil. Fearing the worst, the barber closed the business and went into hiding.

The place where the show was run all these days falls under Kalapather police station limits. When contacted, the Kalapather police maintained that so far they have not received any complaint from anyone.