Trucks with Rs. 570 crore cash stopped in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: The Election Commission on Saturday morning stopped three trucks purportedly transferring Rs. 570 crores in poll-bound Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district. Though the trucks have not been opened yet, it is reported that the cash belonged to State Bank of India (SBI) and is being transported to Vijayawada. The Election Commission has formed an investigating committee to look into the matter. "The container has not yet been opened, but the matter is being looked into. A container, purportedly transferring 195 crores for bank from Coimbatore to Vijaywada (AP) has been stopped," Rajesh Lakhoni, the Chief Election Officer of Tamil Nadu, told ANI. "The cash was being transferred to Vijaywada. The security guard was not in uniform and didn't have complete documents. Security guards only had the photocopy of the documents and did not possess the original ones. We have asked senior officials of SBI and a special team has been formed to investigate the incident," he added. The Election Commission had on Thursday confirmed seizing over 100 crores of rupees in Tamil Nadu. Of this, Rs. 37 crore has been returned. Tamil Nadu will go to polls in a single phase on May 16. The counting of votes will be held on May 19.