The Alipore court on Saturday sent civic volunteer Niraj Singh to judicial custody for allegedly posing as an officer of Kasba police station, a day after he was arrested.

A civic volunteer attached to Pragati Maidan police station, Niraj was arrested for allegedly stealing the uniform of an officer of the neighbouring Kasba police station on Thursday night. He went around threatening people in Kasba early on Friday morning pretending to be a police officer.

The police said they received calls on the Kolkata Police helpline from a section of Kasba residents who alleged that a person wearing a police uniform was moving around threatening people. He claimed to be an officer of Kasba police station

The callers alleged that the person struggled to keep his uniform in place and appeared to be drunk.

Senior officers of Kolkata Police said that after receiving the calls, a team of officers from Kasba police station went to spot and brought the person to the police station. He was in a white uniform — that of an officer of Kolkata Police — and was struggling to stand straight.

“The man identified himself as Niraj Singh. On further interrogation, he said he worked as a civic volunteer with Pragati Maidan police station,” said a senior officer of Kasba police station.

“When asked where he had found a police uniform, the man said he stole it from the barracks of Kasba police station.”

Niraj was subsequently arrested on charges of allegedly stealing a police uniform and impersonating an officer, the police said.

A departmental inquiry will be initiated against the civic volunteer, officers added.

On Wednesday, a civic volunteer with Baranagar police station was sent on indefinite leave over allegations of collecting money from truck drivers on the Belgharia Expressway.

An officer of Baranagar police station was also “closed” on the same charge after the video showed a woman rebuking the officer, seated inside a police vehicle, and the civic volunteer waiting outside it, for allegedly collecting money from some lorry drivers on the expressway.

In police parlance, “closing an officer” means he would not be given any duty but he would have to report to work till cleared of the charges levelled against him.