New Delhi: Three people were arrested in India on Friday after a powerful bomb accidentally exploded in a border town in the country, police said.

Police believe the three Nepali-speaking people arrested were associates of those killed in Thursday's blast and that the bomb could have been meant for Bhutan or Nepal.

"The bomb would have killed many people and we are still tracing its connection with the two neighbouring countries," said senior police officer Rahul Srivastava.

A woman and two men were killed in West Bengal's Siliguri town on Thursday, when the bomb went off inside a house due to a faulty timer device.