Kolkata, 30 July (H.S.): West Bengal has finally got its own National Investigation Agency (NIA) police station, with the state government issuing a notification on Thursday following approval by the state Cabinet last week.

The first NIA police station in West Bengal has been established on the 16th floor of the NBCC building in New Town, where the agency’s state office is located. All NIA cases originating in West Bengal will now be registered at this police station.

Until now, the agency had to register FIRs related to cases in West Bengal through its headquarters in New Delhi. The establishment of a dedicated police station is expected to streamline the agency’s investigation and operational procedures in the state.

The NIA had been planning to establish its own police station in Kolkata for several years. However, the proposal allegedly did not materialise during the previous Trinamool Congress government. Within around three months of the change in government, the Suvendu Adhikari-led state Cabinet approved the proposal.

The NIA already has dedicated police stations in major cities such as Mumbai and Chennai, as well as in comparatively smaller cities including Ranchi, Kochi and Imphal. Such police stations are established to facilitate investigations and enable the agency to carry out its operations more efficiently.

The NIA began investigating cases in West Bengal with the 2014 Khagragarh blast case. Nearly 12 years later, the agency has finally got its own police station in the state.

The proposal to establish the NIA police station was approved at the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Suvendu Adhikari on July 22.

The development comes shortly after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent visit to West Bengal, during which discussions were held with the Chief Minister on the state’s law-and-order and security situation. The establishment of the NIA police station soon afterwards is being viewed as significant from both administrative and security perspectives.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey