A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Lucknow on February 28, awarded death penalty to seven suspected Islamic State (IS) operatives, identified as Mohammad Faisal, Gaus Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Azhar, Atiq Muzaffer, Mohammad Danish, Mohammad Sayyed Meer Hussain, and Asif Iqbal and a life term to one, identified as Mohammad Atif alias Asif Irani in connection with the Kanpur terror conspiracy case, reports The Indian Express. All eight convicts were arrested in Kanpur in 2017 in connection with planning terror acts. Delivering the sentence, Special NIA court judge VS Tripathi observed that the case fell in the rarest of rare category and the convicts were entitled to the severest punishment. SATP had on February 26, reported the conviction of these IS operatives.