KOLKATA - AT LEAST two people were killed and 16 others injured on Wednesday when a bomb exploded in the eastern Indian town of Alipurduar, police said.

One person was killed instantly when a bomb strapped to a bicycle exploded at a shopping centre in the remote West Bengal town, police inspector-general Kundanlal Tamta told AFP in state capital Kolkata.

A second victim succumbed to injuries in hospital, he said.

'It was a powerful bomb,' Mr Tamta said.

There are no known militant groups operating in West Bengal, which borders the insurgency-riven Assam state where ethnic and tribal guerrillas often use bicycles to carry out such bomb attacks.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the Alipurduar blast, Mr Tamta added.

India's domestic security agency warned on Wednesday that the country's top politicians could be attacked by militant groups ahead of national elections due to start next month. -- AFP