New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): A court here on Friday awarded seven-year jail terms to two members of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group after their application for pleading guilty to charges against them was allowed.

Those convicted by District and Sessions Judge Amar Nath are Sheikh Azhar-ul-Islam alias Abdul Sattar Sheikh and Mohammed Farhan alias Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested Sheikh, Farhan and Adnan Hassan alias Mohammad Hussain in January last year on charges of involvement in a conspiracy to identify, motivate, radicalise, recruit and train potential members for the international militant group.

In their applications, both Sheikh and Farhan pleaded that they were remorseful over their actions. 

"We want to return to the mainstream and be productive for society and want to rehabilitate ourselves," they said, adding that their guilty plea was made without any pressure, threat, coercion or undue influence.

Sheikh Azhar hails from Jammu and Kashmir while Farhan hails from Maharashtra. Hassan is a resident of Karnataka.