At least one person was killed and 16 others injured when a bomb planted by suspected ULFA militants exploded near a hotel in Lalganesh area here, minutes before external affairs minister Pranab Mukerjee was scheduled to arrive there to address an election meeting.

The bomb exploded near Shankar hotel in Jyoti Kuchi Road at around 6 pm killing a labourer on the spot and injuring 16 others.

The police said the bomb may have been planted by members of the ULFA who had recently sneaked into the city to carry out subversive activities ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

An alert has been sounded in the city following the blast particularly in view of the visit of a host of central political leaders for campaigning. Some of the injured including Narayan Dutta, Gobinda Chetri, Bubu Gogoi, Rajesh Bora, Ranjit Pandit, Budu Deka and Montu Deka were admitted to the Guwahati Medical College hospital.