Round one of the battle of wits between Cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and three-time ex-MLA Ashwani Sekhri for the control of Batala city has been won by the latter. Ever since the minister fell out of favour with the CM Capt Amarinder Singh, wide ranging administrative and police powers have been handed over on a platter to Sekhri. Earlier, it was Bajwa who ruled the roost in Batala. Now the changing power dynamics have ensured that Sekhri has become, or rather been made, all powerful. Recently, Gurdaspur DC Mohammad Ishfaq and Batala SSP Rachpal Singh attended a meeting convened by Sekhri. On his part, the former legislator made certain that photographs of the meeting were published in each and every newspaper of the region just to drive home the point that he was the new king. Long live the king, say his followers. Sekhri has also been made the chairman of the prestigious Punjab Health Systems Corporation. The other day he visited a hospital in Patiala at the dead of the night. Fortunately, he did not find even a single doctor absent. The message that has gone out from his Patiala visit is loud and clear. Mr Chairman can come calling anywhere, anytime.

Drone scare in Kalanaur

Last week, a drone fell in a village of Kalanaur subdivision. This development raised the hackles of the cops. A day earlier, a tiffin bomb containing 2 kg of RDX had fallen in the neighbouring Amritsar district. Gurdaspur SSP Nanak Singh was presiding over a high-level meeting of his officers when he got a phone call informing him of “a flying machine hovering in the sky in Kalanaur.” He immediately reached the spot and had a tough time containing the surging crowd eager to have a glimpse of the “flying machine.” Once the cops managed to make their way near the drone a collective sigh of relief went up the air. The tricolour had been painted on the drone’s tail and this was enough to remind the police that it had not come from Pakistan. Five minutes later, Nanak Singh was informed that the drone belonged to the Jammu base of the Air Force. A day later, the SSP had a joint meeting with Army and BSF officials on how to tackle such situations that may emerge in the future.

— Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal