Old images from a Defence expo goes viral with misleading claims
A viral post contains a collage of four images showing Mahindra Scorpios in camouflage paint is going viral on social media with a claim that the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir has received 2500 bulletproof Scorpio jeeps from a grant given by Indian industrialist Ratan Tata. The caption states, “Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir got 2500 bulletproof Scorpio jeeps from the donation received from the country's biggest industrialist respected Mr. Ratan Tata”. The text in the post claims that these are the new bulletproof SUVs which have been donated by Ratan Tata to the Indian Army in J&K.
Let’s check the truth.
Fact Check-
We started our investigation with relevant keyword search, but we could not find any credible reports to support the claim. If Ratan Tata or the Tata Group had made such a donation, it would almost definitely have received widespread media coverage. We also searched Ratan Tata's and the Tata Group's official social media handles, but discovered no posts that supported the viral claim.
Next, we conducted a reverse image search on Google and the results led us to an article published on 1 April 2012 on a website named Indian Autos Blog, featuring a couple of similar images from the viral post. According to the article, the viral images 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 and here.
Upon further search, we found that there are reports that the Indian Army has placed a top-up order of 1,850 units of the Mahindra Scorpio Classic SUV in July 2023, in January 2023 also Mahindra received an order to deliver 1,470 units to the Indian Army. A tweet by Mahindra Automotive confirms this.
On the official Mahindra and Ratan Tata social media accounts, there is, however, no reference to the recent donation of these bullet proof Mahindra Scorpio SUVs to the Indian Army in J&K. Add to that the fact that these images were previously spotted at the time of the Defence Expo 2012. We contacted Defence PRO for further information; once we receive a reply, the story will be updated.
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral image to be Misleading. The viral images are from the Defence Expo 2012. There have been no credible reports confirming that the Indian Army recently purchased or ordered 2500 bulletproof Scorpios, or that Ratan Tata donated them.