Kolkata Police commissioner Supratim Sarkar made a surprise visit to two police stations across the city in plainclothes on Saturday night, exactly a week after taking charge, to check their reaction and response to a common man’s plight.

In both, he went to report a missing mobile phone.

An assistant sub-inspector at Ballygunge police station was the first to attend to the “complainant” and was listening to him as he explained how he lost his phone at Paddapukur, sources in the police said.

It was a sub-inspector sitting next to him at the sheresta (front desk of a police station) who whispered “CP” when the ASI recognised Sarkar.

Sarkar visited the Survey Park police station next, around midnight.

Sources at the police station stated that the two officers at the front desk on Saturday night also listened to Sarkar’s story of how he lost his phone.

“It was only after a few minutes that one of them started to give knowing glances and make calls,” a source said.

Police stations in the city have often been accused of “misbehaviour” and “lukewarm response” when people go to report a crime.

Asked about his “experience” as a common man, Sarkar told Metro that he found the officers “patient and responsive.”

“The whole purpose of the surprise visit was to check how police stations react to a common man’s complaints. There is always room for improvement. But what I experienced yesterday made me glad as a part of the force,” Sarkar said.

Sources said by the time he visited Survey Park police station, the word was out, and all the police stations were on full alert, thinking that Sarker might check them next.

“As the surprise element was lost, he ended his tour,” an officer said.