Bengal govt. to be custodian of ‘enemy properties’: Adhikari

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced that the Centre is set to make the West Bengal government the custodian of all “enemy properties” located in the State.

Enemy property refers to movable and immovable assets, including lands, buildings, shares and gold deposited in banks, left behind by people who migrated to and took citizenship of countries regarded as India’s enemies.

Mr. Adhikari, who made the announcement while inaugurating a Durga Puja at Lalbagh in Murshidabad district on Thursday (October15, 2026), said the State government aims to use the revenue generated from these properties to fund development projects.

“I have one piece of news to share before ending my speech. The Centre has made the state government custodian of all enemy properties inside Bengal,” he told people at the Puja gathering at the fag end of his speech.

“Money will not be an impediment to development works in this region. We have to beautify this assembly constituency [Murshidabad] and build model villages here,” he added.

Mr. Adhikari made the announcement 48 hours after the first Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting of Home Ministers held in Delhi on Tuesday (October 13, 2026).

The forum, which aims to strengthen regional security cooperation, adopted a Delhi Declaration, reaffirming their commitment to strengthening regional cooperation towards a connected, secure, resilient, developed and prosperous BIMSTEC region.

The participating Ministers called for collective efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, transnational organised crime, cybercrime, money laundering, terrorist financing and the illicit smuggling of arms.

Delegations attended from all seven member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand), though Bangladesh was represented by a senior bureaucrat rather than its Home Minister.

The Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), which operates under the Union Home Ministry, is currently responsible for managing, controlling, preserving and disposing of properties left behind by “enemies”.

The CEPI collects rent, lease payments, dividends and other recurring income from these properties and deposits the proceeds into the government account.

Sources said this income may now be deposited in the State exchequer if the Bengal government becomes the custodian of such properties.