Guwahati, Feb 22: Signalling a sharper enforcement push ahead of the financial year-end, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has set a target of filing 500 prosecution complaints by March 31, 2026. The goal was announced during its 34th Quarterly Conference of Zonal Officers (QCZO), held in Guwahati from February 19 to 21.
Chaired by the Director of ED, the three-day national review brought together Special Directors, Additional Directors, Joint Directors, legal advisors and senior officials from headquarters and field formations across the country.
The decision to convene the high-level conference in Assam reflects the agency’s expanding footprint in the Northeast.
Over the past two to three years, the ED has opened six new offices across the region and established an operational presence in almost all northeastern states. Efforts are currently underway to operationalise an office in Aizawl.
Officials noted intensified enforcement in cases linked to cybercrime and narcotics trafficking, particularly given the region’s proximity to the Myanmar and Bangladesh borders. The conference stressed faster investigations and stronger institutional capacity in sensitive border areas.
Previous QCZOs were held in Srinagar and Kevadia, focusing on institutional consolidation and technology-driven investigations.
With the financial year drawing to a close, the Guwahati deliberations emphasised meaningful achievement of annual targets, logical closure of long-pending investigations, timely filing of prosecution complaints, and legally sustainable attachments and penalties.
Zonal offices were directed to identify “mature” cases ready for prosecution and to reduce investigation timelines to one to two years, except in exceptionally complex matters.
Key enforcement priorities identified include tracking foreign assets parked in jurisdictions such as Dubai and Singapore, trade-based money laundering through manipulated import-export invoices, digital arrest scams and cyber-enabled fraud, illegal betting and unregulated online gaming platforms, drug trafficking networks and hawala channels, share market manipulation using shell entities and foreign funding linked to unlawful or destabilising activities.
The ED also reviewed progress in expanding its own infrastructure. New office premises and land acquisitions are underway in Shillong, Dehradun, Raipur, Chennai and Hyderabad, reflecting a sustained push toward long-term institutional capacity building.
The conference concluded with a reaffirmation of the agency’s commitment to combating money laundering, foreign exchange violations and serious economic offences nationwide.
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