Tel Aviv - An explosion ripped through a car in North Tel Aviv Monday morning, killing an alleged underworld kingpin, and lightly wounding two bystanders, Israeli media said.

Police would not confirm the identity of the fatality, who media reports said was Yakov Alperon, the head of one of Israel's reputed largest crime families.

Nor were police prepared to say that the blast was the result of a bomb planted in the rented car in which Alperon was.

The blast, on the corner of Tel Aviv's Namir Road and Yehuda HaMaccabi streets, occurred as Alperon was returning from the Tel Aviv Magistrate's court, where an indictment had been filed against his son Dror, for blackmail and attacking a policeman.

The Alperon family had often quarrelled with other Tel Aviv crime mobs, and Israel Radio reported that police intended to question all underworld figures in their investigation into the blast.

Police were also fearing that the death of Alperon could trigger a savage gang war in Tel Aviv, as the Alperon family tried to avenge the death of their Godfather. (dpa)