BANGALORE: ​At least 16 people have been injured in a bomb blast near BJP office here in Malleshwaram on Wednesday morning. The injured include 8 cops, according to TV reports.

Investigators probing the blast say that a bomb was fitted on a motorcycle parked near the BJP office.

Police sources said the blast occurred in a black Ind Suzuki motorcycle parked next to a Maruti Omni on the pavement diagonally opposite to the BJP office.

As the bomb went off in the motorcycle, the Omni and another Santro car parked next to it went up in flames. A Honda Dio and Bajaj Chetak scooters parked to the left of Santro car too caught fire.

Two KSRP vans, with policemen, parked near the two scooters also took the brunt of the attack. The front window panes of one of the vehicles was shattered.

Initially, the police had suspected that the explosion was due to the blast of a LPG cylinder placed in the boot of a car.

However, the city police chief ruled this out after initial inspection.

"It's not a LPG cylinder blast as suspected," Bangalore police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar told reporters after visiting the site.

Raghavendra Aurandkar said that police suspect the blast was caused by explosives strapped to a bike, parked near BJP office.

However, this can be confirmed only after investigations, he added.

The motorcycle used to place explosives was completely destroyed in the explosion.

The police have launched a manhunt to trace its owner.

The extent of damage suggests that the bomb was strapped to the bike, sources added.

Cops are questioning mechanics to find if they fitted anything suspicious on to any bike in the recent past.

The police are also focusing on around half-a-dozen phone numbers on which calls were made to and from in the area between 10 and 11 am during which the blast took place.

Meanwhile, the Centre has ordered an inquiry into the blast.

"I have ordered an inquiry. The secretary home department will look into it," Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters in Kolkata.

(Inputs from Arun Dev, Anil Kumar M & Rajiv Kalkod)