NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to significantly strengthen its intelligence network along the India-Bangladesh border by setting up nearly 40 permanent Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) units across border districts in West Bengal.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought around 50 acres of land from the state government for the project, sources said.
The proposed expansion is aimed at enhancing intelligence-gathering and counter-infiltration capabilities along the 2,217-km India-Bangladesh border, one of the country's most sensitive frontiers due to persistent concerns over illegal infiltration, cross-border smuggling, organised crime and other security threats.
The move represents one of the largest expansions of the Intelligence Bureau's (IB) field infrastructure in the region in recent years and is intended to establish a permanent operational presence in vulnerable border sectors.
According to sources, the new units will improve the collection, analysis and dissemination of intelligence related to infiltration routes, smuggling syndicates, extremist activities and other cross-border networks.
"Officials of the MHA and the West Bengal Home Department have already held discussions on the implementation of the project, including the identification of suitable land parcels for the proposed establishments. Under the plan, each SIB unit will require between one and 1.5 acres of land, taking the total requirement to nearly 50 acres across several border districts," a source said.
Once the land is transferred by the state government, the IB will develop the facilities independently.
Unlike several existing SIB units, which currently operate from rented premises outside Kolkata, the new establishments will be designed as permanent office-cum-residential campuses.
The integrated facilities will provide secure office space, residential accommodation and modern operational infrastructure, enabling intelligence personnel to remain stationed closer to sensitive border locations. The permanent campuses are also expected to improve operational security by providing secure communication systems, protected records management and dedicated surveillance infrastructure essential for handling sensitive national security information, sources added.
Although the India-Bangladesh border stretches across five Indian states, West Bengal accounts for the longest and most strategically significant section. Nearly 600 km of the international border remains unfenced, providing opportunities for illegal crossings and facilitating activities such as narcotics and cattle smuggling, fake currency circulation, and organised cross-border crime.
Security agencies have also expressed concern over attempts by hostile and extremist elements to exploit vulnerable stretches of the border. Officials said the evolving political and security situation in Bangladesh following the turmoil that began in 2024 has further reinforced the need for a stronger intelligence presence along the frontier.
The new SIB units are expected to strengthen human intelligence capabilities by maintaining continuous surveillance over vulnerable sectors, identifying infiltration routes, tracking sleeper cells, monitoring suspicious movements, and gathering actionable intelligence on organised criminal and smuggling networks.
Officials in the security establishment believe that positioning intelligence personnel closer to vulnerable border pockets will significantly improve response time by enabling real-time intelligence collection and its swift dissemination to operational agencies, allowing quicker intervention against anti-national activities.
The intelligence expansion will complement the Centre's ongoing efforts to strengthen physical border infrastructure. Recently, the West Bengal government transferred 142.79 acres of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for the construction of new border outposts and barbed-wire fencing across nine border districts, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Uttar Dinajpur (North Dinajpur), Dakshin Dinajpur (South Dinajpur), Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24 Parganas.
Officials believe the simultaneous augmentation of intelligence assets and border infrastructure will enhance coordination among the IB, BSF and the state police, creating a more integrated security grid along the eastern frontier.
