New Delhi  - At least eight people including a leader of a regional political party and his aides were killed when the bombs they were allegedly carrying in their car exploded in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, officials said.

The incident occurred in the Kurnool district some 300 kilometres south of state capital Hyderabad when a truck hit a jeep in which KV Naidu, a leader of the opposition Telegu Desam Party (TDP), and his brother Shivshankar Naidu were travelling.

"According to preliminary investigations, crude bombs which were allegedly kept in the jeep exploded after the collision, killing Naidu, his brother and his aides on the scene," local police officer Sheikh Mahmood Basha said.

"Three others were injured of which two are in a critical condition. They have been taken to a local hospital," Basha added.

The IANS news agency reported that while the truck driver fled from the scene soon after the incident, TDP supporters alleged the "accident" was in fact a pre-planned attack by a leader from a rival party.

Naidu, a powerful local politician who had several criminal cases pending against him, had a long running feud with V Padma, associated with the Congress party which governs the state.

Many of Naidu's supporters came out on the streets, damaging buses and other public property soon after the incident.

The two groups have been fighting for the last three decades for supremacy in the region, notorious for deadly factional fights, the report said.

The TDP alleges that more than 100 of its leaders and cadre have been killed by the Congress party since it came to power four years ago. (dpa)