The source said the police officers were transporting suspects to a detention center, when their vehicle exploded in the Leninsky district of Grozny.
"None of the prisoners were hurt. They were returned to a pre-trial detention center," the source said.
A team of investigators is currently working at the scene to gather evidence.
This is the second police death in two days in Grozny, on Monday evening a police officer was gunned down by armed attackers.
Chechnya saw two military campaigns in the 1990s-early 2000s, as Moscow sought to restore control over the mountainous republic, ruled at the time by a separatist regime.
Although the active phase of the war is over, sporadic clashes with militants and terrorist attacks are common in the troubled republic, as well as in adjacent republics such as Ingushetia and Daghestan.
