RAWALPINDI, May 8: Two policemen were shot dead and another was injured when four scavengers, on bicycles, opened fire on them in Satellite Town on Wednesday, police sources said.

The four policemen of Eagle Squad— Syed Iqtidar Haider Shah, Imran Maqsood, Omer Hayat and Zafar Abbas— were on night patrol in F-block, Satellite Town at around 4:30am near the Holy Family Hospital on motorbikes, when they saw the four scavengers and signalled them to stop, police said.

“As I signalled the four bicycle riders, who were coming from the side of the hospital, to stop, two of them pulled out their pistols and started firing on us without giving us a chance to take positions,” injured constable Zafar Abbas told Dawn.

Syed Iqtidar Haider Shah and Imran Maqsood died on the spot and Zafar Abbas, who was in plain clothes, was injured. He saved himself by fleeing from the scene.

The scavengers were dressed in Shalwar Kameez, and appeared to be Afghans. The four fled on their bicycles taking a police rifle with them.

“If we had wireless sets the culprits could have been arrested,” constable Zafar Abbas said.

The injured police constable rushed to the nearby police station and informed them about the incident. Some of the residents living nearby also came out of their homes on hearing the gunshots, but no one dared follow the culprits.

The dead were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for postmortem and the injured constable was taken to the Holy Family Hospital, where his condition is reported to be stable.

According to the doctor who conducted the postmortem, one of the dead was fired in the neck and the other was shot four to five times.

Namaz-i-Janaza of the two policemen was offered at the Police Lines Rawalpindi attended by the DIG, the SSP Rawalpindi, and policemen.

POST OFFICE ROBBED: A post office in Amarpura Mohallah was robbed by two gunmen on Wednesday, police said.