Gangtok, March 17 -- In a major development in an ongoing corruption probe, the Sikkim Vigilance Police has arrested an Assistant Engineer from the Roads & Bridges (R&B) Department for alleged involvement in the misuse of government funds meant for installing crash barriers along the Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Road.

The arrest is part of a wider investigation into the suspected diversion of funds sanctioned under the Border Areas Development Programme (BADP). Authorities believe that the accused engineer played a key role in a conspiracy that led to the siphoning of public money, causing losses to the state exchequer.

Earlier, on March 13, the Vigilance team had taken a Junior Engineer and a supplier into custody in connection with the same ...