Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS) The zonal offices of two central agencies, namely the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in Kolkata will start operating from the same office complex from the first quarter of 2026.

Preparations have already begun in this regard.

The new complex, from which both the central investigation agencies will operate, is most likely to be the building of the National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), located in New Town, the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

Sources aware of the development said that the decision to operate the zonal offices of both CBI and ED from the same complex was taken with the aim for better coordination between the officials of the two agencies considering that both the agencies are conducting parallel probes in several cases related to alleged financial corruption in West Bengal, the school job case, municipalities’ recruitment case, cattle and coal smuggling cases, among others.

Already, the CBI had shifted the offices of both its Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) and Special Crime Branch (SCB) to the NBCC Building at New Town. Earlier, the ACB of CBI operated from Nizam Palace Complex in South Kolkata, and the SCB operated from the Central Government Office (CGO) complex at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

On the other hand, the ED currently operates from its CGO complex office at Salt Lake.

Sources said that the new office of the ED within the NBCC Building at New Town will be much more spacious, and most importantly, more space for ED lockups will be there. The current lockup space of the ED at the CGO complex office is not much to accommodate beyond a certain number of accused individuals at a time, sources added.

The move for operating the zonal offices of both CBI and ED from the same complex is quite significant, as in the recent past, both the agencies have once again accelerated the pace of their actions in different cases they are probing in the state, ahead of the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled for next year.

–IANS

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