“At least 56 bodies have been pulled out of the mangled wreckage where two trains crashed in eastern India early Friday in an incident linked to Maoist rebels.

About 115 people were injured when 13 cars of the Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Express derailed, capsized on a paralell track and were slammed by a cargo train, authorities said.

Indian authorities gave different theories about the derailment.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee said a bomb explosion caused the passenger train to jump rails.

“The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to ongoing security concerns in India. The U.S. government continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India. The February 2010 bombing in Pune and the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai provide a vivid reminder that hotels, markets, trains and other public places in India are especially attractive targets for terrorist groups. Terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where U.S. citizens or Westerners are known to congregate or visit. This replaces the Travel Alert dated January 29, 2010, to note the February 2010 bombing in Pune, and expires on May 30, 2010.

U.S. citizens are urged always to practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile. U.S. citizens are advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues. “

[Update 10/22/10-09:10 - The UK and Australia have also added warnings on this issue.]

(Source: India Travel Alert.)

“India’s top domestic security official strongly condemned on Tuesday a brazen attack by Maoist rebels in which gunmen on motorcycles and pickup trucks killed 24 police officers during a daylight ambush against a paramilitary camp in the state of West Bengal.

The attack occurred on Monday afternoon and represented a serious setback in India’s mounting campaign against the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which has a presence in 20 of the country’s 28 states and exerts outright control over several isolated regions.

“A bomb ripped through a packed restaurant in the Indian city of Pune on Saturday, killing at least eight people including one foreigner in the country’s first big attack since the 2008 Mumbai massacre.

The explosion came a day after India and Pakistan agreed to meet for high-level talks in New Delhi on February 25. New Delhi suspended a four-year-old peace process with Islamabad after the Mumbai attacks, blamed on Pakistani-based militants.

Police said the bomb was hidden in a bag left in the German Bakery restaurant, a favorite of Jewish and European visitors, when it was full of tourists on Saturday evening.

“Government has put all Air India planes operating in the country’s neighbourhood on high security alert and directed the airlines to deploy sky marshals following intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based LET and other terror groups were planning to hijack a flight.

A directive has been issued to all Indian missions abroad to sensitise the staff of the airlines, official sources said.