Two alleged members of a “basag-kotse” gang died in a reported shootout against operatives of the Novaliches police past midnight yesterday.

Riding a red motorcycle, the still-unidentified suspects smashed the glass window of a maroon Nissan Sentra whose owner Joe Ismael Pajanustan happened to be around during the incident.

Pajanustan confronted the suspects, but one of the men pointed a gun at him. The car owner helplessly watched as the other man took his Dell laptop worth P25,000 and a P20,000 Apple iPad.

As the suspects escaped in the direction of Dahlia Street, Pajanustan reported the robbery to officials of Barangay Greater Fairview, who then alerted the police.

By happenstance, an undercover police unit from Station 5 about to conduct a drug buy-bust operation spotted the suspects after receiving information on radio on the heist the two just committed.

The cops flagged the suspects, but the latter allegedly fired at the lawmen sparking a shootout. The cops escaped unscathed while the suspects died on the spot.

Recovered from the “robbers” were the belongings of Pajanustan and two cal. 38 revolvers.

The shootout happened at the corner of Lilac and M. Gabriel St. Also recovered from the slain suspects were six sachets of shabu.