PESHAWAR, Oct 20: Four policemen were killed when suspected militants attacked a checkpoint in the limits of Paharipura police station here on Sunday evening. Officials said that the policemen were manning the checkpoint when armed motorcyclists opened firing on them. Four policemen sustained critical injuries in the attack, they added. `We rushed them to Lady Reading Hospital but they could not survive,` officials said. The deceased were identified as assistant sub-inspec-tors Fazal Wahab and Malik Ameen and constables Liaquat and Ayub Shah. Af ter the incident, the relatives of the deceased policemen staged a protest demonstration and blocked G.T. Road to traffic. The officials of Paharipura police station said that four armed men riding two motorcycles were seen by eyewitnesses, however, it could not be ascertained as to where they escaped. They said that the checkpoint had been functional for many years to check movement of suspected people and vehicles coming to the areafrom Ring Road and Dalazak Road. `Three policemen were on duty at the checkpoint but Fazal Wahab also came there in plain clothes at the time of incident and came under attack. We launched search operation by blocking the entry and exit points but so far no one has been arrested in this regard mainly due to the darkness of night, the officials said. A source in LRH said that the policemen had died before they were shifted to the hospital. It was learnt that they had received multiple bullet injuries in differentparts of bodies. The relatives of the deceased policemen placed the bodies on the main road at Firdus Chowk and blocked the thoroughfare to all kinds of vehicular traffic. The emotionally charged protesters also pelted stones at police when they tried to open the road. Chanting slogans against the government, the protesters urged the rulers to take action against terrorists. The protest demonstration caused severe problems for motorists as long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road. Police also failed to divert traffic towards the link roads and the motorists having no information about the road blockade remained stuck in the area. Some motorists moved towards the link roads but they also faced great hardships owing to clogged traffic in the narrow streets. It is pertinent to mention here that the provincial government has dismantled maximum of the checkpoints in the province except a few located at the strategic points, particularly in the areas connecting tribal regions and rural localities to the city. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Eng Shaukatullah has strongly condemned the killing of the policemen in the attack and expressed his deep shock and sorrow over the loss of precious lives. Condemning the heinous crime, the governor expressed the confidence that the elements involved in the gory incident would no more remain at large and would be bought to justice. He paid rich tributes to the policemen for their sacrifices and said that their courageous role and services were matters of great pride for the nation and would always be remembered with honour. Expressing sympathies with the members of the bereaved families, the governor prayed for the eternal peace of the departed souls.