The men who want to kill Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

During India's long election campaign, Narendra Modi enjoyed a level of security that was just a notch lower than that given to Indian prime ministers, recognition of the death threats he received from Muslim extremists.

Now that he is prime minister, the threat to his life from groups such as the Indian Mujahideen and the Student Islamic Movement of India (Simi) has risen. He is now an even more high-profile target than he was as chief minister of Gujarat where, under his watch, 2,000 Muslims were massacred by Hindu mobs in 2002.

For Islamic extremists, assassinating Modi would be sweet revenge. At a court hearing on May 16 in Bhopal, central India, the day the election campaign ended, 18 Simi members charged with terrorism disrupted the proceedings by shouting, "It's your turn now Modi!" and "Long live the Taliban!"

"Killing Modi has been their goal for years," said an Intelligence Bureau official in Mumbai who did not want to be named. "Now they are re-doubling their efforts because he is prime minister and the impact would be spectacular. But we keep tabs on them, we know what's going on and they won't succeed."

He added that the threat to Modi's life was "significant but under control" because Simi was not as effective a terrorist group as Pakistan-based jihadi groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. They, too, have Modi on their list of targets as an "anti-Muslim" figure and have warned that if he became prime minister, they would kill him.

On October 27 last year, five people were killed in a series of explosions in Patna, Bihar. One of the bombs exploded near a park where Modi was to speak.

Indian police said the Indian Mujahideen planted the bombs with Modi as their target.