(From top) Police commissioner R.K. Pachnanda unveils the plaque at Parnashree police station; the officer-in-charge makes the first GD entry at 12.01am and men in white at the Behala police station crossing. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha, Sayantan Ghosh and Pradip Sanyal

“Hip, hip, hurrah” at midnight by residents and a visit by the police commissioner marked Parnashree’s debut as a city police station.

Carved out of Behala police station, Parnashree is one of the eight new police stations that started their journey at 12.01am on Thursday.

The three-storey building on Upen Banerjee Road that houses the police station — painted white and blue, and with a glowing signboard — used to be a Calcutta Municipal Corporation office. Two of the rooms are still under the civic body’s control.

As midnight approached, officers in casual clothes changed into the white Calcutta police uniform and cleared the clutter from their tables.

By 11.50pm, about 15 residents had gathered outside. At exactly a minute past midnight, the officer-in-charge, Amit Rakshit, opened the general diary and wrote that he had taken charge of the police station, which has a 7sq km area under its jurisdiction.

He had barely finished informing the Calcutta police control room over the wireless about taking charge when the crowd outside broke into applause. “Three cheers to OC Parnashree, hip hip hurrah,” they shouted.

Additional officer-in-charge S.K. Ghosh made the second GD entry, followed by the other officers.

In the morning, the chores and preparation for the commissioner’s visit continued simultaneously.

The first complaint was lodged at 7.45am by Swapan Paul, from whose home Rs 10,000 had allegedly been stolen.

Soon after, a civic police volunteer was asked to distribute a bunch of leaflets containing the police station’s address and phone numbers among the public.

Outside, sentries with rifles rehearsed the guard of honour for the commissioner.

Some residents walked into the police station. “We have come to meet you. We are very happy that a police station has been set up in the area and sincerely hope the traffic situation improves,” J.S. Chaddha, a resident of a nearby housing estate, told the cops in the police station.

The call the cops were waiting for came on an inspector’s cellphone around 10.15am. “CP will reach in five minutes,” he was told.

Everyone took up position. Soon, a black Esteem rolled in. Police commissioner R.K. Pachnanda stepped out and inspected the guard of honour.

The commissioner then walked towards a plaque and pulled a string to part the curtain covering it. Parnashree police station was formally inaugurated.