A post claiming that the Indian Army has received 2500 bulletproof Scorpios in Jammu and Kashmir from donations made by prominent industrialist Ratan Tata is being widely shared on social media platforms (here, here, here, here, here, & here). The viral post contains a collage of four images showing Mahindra Scorpios in camouflage paint. In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Ratan Tata donated funds to the Indian Army to purchase 2500 bulletproof Scorpios vehicles.
Fact: There are no credible reports confirming that the Indian Army has recently bought or ordered 2500 bulletproof Scorpios, or that they were donated by Ratan Tata did. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the accuracy of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search. However, our search yielded no credible reports supporting the claim. If such a donation had been made by Ratan Tata or the Tata Group, it would have certainly garnered significant media attention. Additionally, we checked the official social media handles of Ratan Tata and the Tata Group (here, here, here, here, here, & here), but found no posts supporting the viral claim.
During our search, we discovered that the pictures in the viral post have been circulating with a similar claim since 2016 (here).
To learn more about the pictures featured in the viral post, we conducted a Google reverse image search. This search led us to an article published on 01 April 2012 on a website named ‘Indian Autos Blog,’ featuring a couple of pictures from the viral post. According to the article, the viral pictures show a Mahindra Rakshak Plus, a modified Scorpio offering Level-3 protection, which was showcased at DEFEXPO in 2012. The Mahindra Rakshak Plus is available exclusively to defence forces. Additionally, articles mentioning these viral pictures of the Mahindra Rakshak Plus can be seen here, here, and here.
According to an ‘Amar Ujala’ news report published in 2019, bulletproof Scorpio (Mahindra Rakshak Plus) vehicles were provided to Jammu and Kashmir Police officers. We also found pictures and videos showing the use of Mahindra Rakshak Plus vehicles by the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir for many years (here, here, and here). A report by ‘The Economic Times’ published on 12 January 2023 stated that the Indian Army ordered nearly 1500 Mahindra Scorpio Classic SUVs. A tweet by Mahindra Automotive confirms this.
We then checked the official Twitter handle of Mahindra Automotive, but did not find any post confirming that the Indian Army recently ordered or bought 2,500 bulletproof Scorpios. If the Indian Army had indeed placed such an order, it would have certainly garnered significant media attention and would have been confirmed by Mahindra Automotive. Based on all the information, it is clear that the Indian Army has not recently ordered 2500 bulletproof Scorpios, which also confirms that Ratan Tata did not donate funds for their purchase.
In the past, a post featuring a picture of a bus went viral, claiming that Ratan Tata donated a bulletproof bus to the Indian Army. Factly published a fact-check article debunking this claim (here).
To sum up, the viral claim that the Indian Army received 2500 bulletproof Scorpio vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir from donations made by Ratan Tata is false.
