US travellers warned about India after FBI holds terrorist

In yet another travel advisory against India, the US has warned its citizens travelling here to stay alert. The warning comes days after the FBI busted an alleged plot by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to carry out a terrorist attack in India using an American national.

"The US Government continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India," the US state department said in its latest travel advisory on India. This replaces a similar travel alert issued by the state department before the start of the Diwali festival season.

"Terrorists and their sympathisers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where Americans or Westerners are known to congregate or visit," the department's bureau of consular affairs said.

Home minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had shared documents with India about the arrest of the American national, identified as David Coleman Headley, early on. "They showed us the complete file and affidavit sometime before it was made public," Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi.

The FBI on Tuesday said the Pakistan-based terror group, blamed for the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, was planning to use the American national to carry out another major terrorist attack in India.

Headley was arrested early this month by the FBI's joint terrorism task force at O'Hare International Airport while trying to board a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel on to Pakistan.