On 9 April 2016, for the first time a court in Bengal awarded death sentence under the Narcotic Drugs and

On 9 April 2016, for the first time a court in Bengal awarded death sentence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, commonly referred to as the NDPS Act. Almost 14 years after he was arrested, a Barasat court ordered Karaya resident Anwar Rehman - who was found guilty of supplying heroin in Kolkata and was arrested with over 53.5 kg of it - to be hanged till death. Rehman was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India. NCB officials explained that a death penalty is usually awarded in rarest of circumstances - generally when the quantity recovered is huge and the accused is a repeat offender.