The Madras High Court on Monday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Rs 570 crore that was seized in Tamil Nadu a few days before the state election. Though the State Bank of India claimed the money, which they said was being transported to Andhra Pradesh in armoured trucks, a petition was filed alleging the cash was being transported to bribe voters.

The petition was filed by Opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam spokesperson TKS Elangovan, who claimed that bank officials had created the documents to show it was SBI money, The New Indian Express reported.

The Election Commission cracked down on political parties in the state before the polls and seized more than Rs 100 crore of illegal cash ahead of the May 16 election. Polling was also cancelled in two districts after the EC seized several crore of illegal money. The monitoring body said it would defer the election in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur “so that the vitiating effect of the money power created by the distribution of money and gift items to the electors of the constituency loses its intensity and a more congenial atmosphere conducive to the conduct of free and fair election is created”.