MOHALI -Not only is the Punjab Police ensuring the safety of residents from criminals, but it is also setting new standards with its flagship project of Sadak Surakhya Force (SSF), a dedicated highway patrol for saving the lives of commuters and making Punjab Police the first 3D Police Force in India by integrating drones, satellite imagery, and AI-powered predictive systems.
The impact of the dedicated highway patrol is already visible on the roads it mans. From February 2024 to January 2026, the SSF attended 43, 983 road accidents, helping a total of 47, 386 people. During these interventions, 19, 973 persons were provided first aid at the spot, while 27, 413 injured persons were shifted to hospitals, contributing towards saving lives through prompt emergency response and medical assistance.
The Punjab SSF, introduced as a dedicated force for highway safety, focuses exclusively on patrolling designated stretches of highways and major roads. Unlike conventional policing, SSF personnel are not diverted for routine law-and-order duties, with their primary focus being road safety, rapid response and assistance to accident victims.
The force is equipped with 144 high-tech vehicles and more than 1, 600 specially trained personnel, including nearly 28 percent women recruits. The teams are strategically deployed every 30 km along 4, 100 km of critical national and state highways and major district roads. SSF teams respond to accidents within an average of 6 to 10 minutes, significantly faster than global benchmarks.
Built around the “platinum 10 minutes” principle, SSF personnel aim to reach accident victims within six to eight minutes to provide immediate medical assistance before the ambulance or hospital takes over. The vehicles are equipped with speed guns, alcometers (breathalyzers), e-challan machines, dash cams and first-aid kits.
On this, Punjab DGP (Director General of Police)Gaurav Yadav stated, "Personnel received specialised training, including crash investigation and emergency medical response. For the last two years, reports consistently show a massive 45-48 percent drop in road accident fatalities on the specific highway stretches they patrol. On such SSF-manned roads, fatalities reportedly dropped from 1, 955 in 2023 to 1, 016 in 2024. That’s approximately 940 lives saved on those specific corridors in about a year."
The SSF was officially launched by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on January 27, 2024, in Jalandhar. The force was created to tackle Punjab’s high rate of road accident fatalities, which was averaging 17-18 deaths per day.
Beyond road safety, SSF teams have also supported wider enforcement and public assistance efforts, recovering contraband such as 6 kg of opium and stolen vehicles, while also facilitating the return of cash and gold to their rightful owners. The teams have also helped prevent more than 12 suicides and assisted schoolchildren, late-night women travellers and tourists.