Lucknow, Dec 5 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth Rs 4.12 crore belonging to the accused in the multi-crore scholarship scam.

The action took place on Monday here. The attached properties are two residential plots in Lucknow in the name of Ram Gopal, on which buildings of Jivika Institute of Pharmacy and Jivika College of Pharmacy are constructed, and three luxury vehicles in the name of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Foundation, under which the two institutes are functioning.

Ram Gopal is the manager of the two institutes and was arrested by ED on October 6. He is currently under judicial custody.

ED initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR lodged by UP Police in the scholarship scam.

The ED investigation revealed that managers and trustees of various institutes got fake students admitted to their institutes and applied for scholarships in their names on the government portal to take wrongful advantage of government schemes meant for needy students.

The scholarship received was transferred to accounts of colleges and thereafter withdrawn in cash or transferred to personal accounts of owners, managers, trustees or family members. This resulted in embezzlement of over Rs 100 crore of public money.

Five persons have been arrested so far in connection with the scam, and two provisional attachment orders, attaching immovable and movable properties worth Rs 6.09 crore in the name of managers and trustees of the various colleges, have already been issued.