Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai swapped his predecessor’s stalling Toyotas for six custom Mahindra Scorpio-N SUVs built from ballistic steel to survive grenade attacks.
RAIPUR, April 12, 2026 — The chief minister’s ride just got a heavy-duty, all-black upgrade.
Vishnu Deo Sai has officially dumped the Toyota Fortuner convoy purchased during former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s tenure. The state government replaced the aging fleet with six brand-new, fully bulletproof Mahindra Scorpio-N SUVs. The decision came down to two inescapable facts: security risks and mechanical failure. The old cars kept shutting down right in the middle of official trips.
You can’t have a state leader stranded on the shoulder of a highway.
Sai confirmed the change himself, telling reporters the previous vehicles would simply stop running while on the road. The state didn’t just order a fresh set of engines. They bought rolling fortresses. Security agencies demanded vehicles that could survive a direct, coordinated ambush. They got exactly what they asked for. Engineers built these six Scorpios from reinforced ballistic steel to withstand gunfire, bomb blasts, and grenade attacks.
But why wait for a high-profile breakdown before making the swap? The Fortuners had simply run their course under heavy, high-speed usage across the state.
The state outfitted the new convoy’s windows with thick, multi-layered glass tested to stop rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle. They kept the standard all-black aesthetic but shifted entirely to a domestically produced Mahindra platform.
And they didn’t cut a single corner on the armor plating.
When a new administration assumes power, they inherit both the assets and the liabilities of the previous office. Sai inherited a fleet that couldn’t reliably transport him across Chhattisgarh without stalling out. Local police and state security forces don’t gamble with stalled engines in unsecured districts.
So the government cut the cord.
They spent the necessary funds, upgraded the threat-response capabilities, and prioritized absolute physical security over patching up dying cars. A chief minister travels through highly volatile corridors on a weekly basis. With these six Scorpios online, the police have eliminated the mechanical weak link. The state’s top executive now moves behind ballistic steel, completely insulated from both engine failure and armed ambush.
