Officials said the personnel accompanying the containers said that they were transferring Rs. 570 crore from State Bank of India in Coimbatore to its Vishakhapatnam branches, but did not have all the necessary documents and efforts were on to ascertain the veracity of their claim.

The flying squad of the election department, along with paramilitary forces, seized the cash early Saturday morning during a routine vehicle check on Perumanallur-Kunnathur bypass road, police said.

The containers, escorted by three cars, did not halt, but officials chased them and stopped them near Chengapalli.

A check revealed the amount kept in several boxes inside the containers, they said.

The men in the cars, who claimed to be plainclothesmen from Andhra Pradesh, told the officials that they were transferring Rs. 570 crore from State Bank of India in Coimbatore to its Vishakhapatnam branches. However, they could not produce any document to support their claims, following which the vehicles were taken to the District Collectorate in Tirupur.

When asked whey they had sped away without stopping, they told the police that they feared it was a robbery attempt and that they were unaware that the officials were from the election department.

Bank officials from Coimbatore and Vishakhapatnam were informed and are rushing to the spot, police said.