NEW DELHI: A female bomber blew herself up, killing herself and a policeman, outside a court in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Friday, police said.

“I can confirm that two people have died and around half a dozen are injured with splinter injuries,” Gupteshwar Pandey, the additional director general of police in Bihar, told AFP.

“One lady and a policeman died and I can confirm that the woman was carrying the bomb."

The explosion comes amid tightened security across India ahead of the arrival of US President Barack Obama for a three-day visit on Sunday.

Pandey said it was not clear whether the bomber had intended to carry out a suicide attack or whether the device had exploded prematurely.

“All other details are still sketchy as officers are on the spot and carrying out the initial investigations,” he said.

“It is still a matter of investigation whether she was a suicide bomber, as is being speculated by the media, or the bomb went off while she was carrying it."

CNN-IBN said that the woman's body had been blown to pieces, adding that seven people had so far been admitted to a nearby hospital after the explosion at a civil court in Bihar's Bhojpur district.

The local police chief said that the blast occurred around noon as a prison van arrived at the court.

“It is not clear whether it was a terrorist incident and investigations have started,” Inspector General Amarendra Kumar Ambedkar told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Indian security forces have been on a general heightened state of alert ahead of the visit by Obama who is due to spend time in the capital New Delhi and the northern city of Agra which is home to the Taj Mahal.