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Four people were arrested on Thursday and the rest on Friday.

Those arrested on Friday include Antriksh Dutta and Sahil Singh from Jammu, and Krishna Kumar Rajesh and Bhavishya Karan from Maharashtra’s Mumbai and Kalyan, respectively, said Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla.

On Thursday, Sonipat resident and social media influencer James Dahiya and Ashutosh from Hamirpur were arrested, he added.

Among the non-students arrested on Thursday were Gagandeep and Jasmeet Kumar. Residents of Phagwara, both work at different pizza outlets with branches on the campus that they regularly visit.

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Police allege they reached the campus after learning about the violence and were involved in subsequent looting. Gagandeep, James and Jasmeet were produced before a local court on Friday and were remanded to three-day police custody.

Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla said on Friday that 20 people have so far been identified and named in the cases, adding that multiple police teams were conducting raids to arrest the remaining accused in several states.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), he told media persons, analysed CCTV footage from LPU and other locations, videos carried by news channels, social-media posts, and other technical evidence to track the accused.

While the FIR accuses Krishna and Prem of violence, police have linked Ashutosh with allegations of attacks on police personnel and obstruction of public servants from performing their duty.

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Police said Dahiya also runs a food outlet on the campus. They alleged his involvement in campus vandalism and social-media activity surrounding the protests.

On the minor B.Tech student from Mandi, police have not specified his individual role beyond linking him to the MiG incident. Police said the specific role of each accused remains subject to investigation and legal proceedings.

Police said he was picked up following a raid at his house in Mandi, adding that he had the viral MiG photograph as his phone’s wallpaper.

With regard to the student who has managed to evade arrest, Mohammed Farhat, DIG Singla said police were probing his alleged involvement in the campus vandalism. He said Farhat was also seen on the highway presenting himself as a “peaceful protester”.

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In one of the videos, he could be seen standing close to SSP Kapurthala Gaurav Toora while the latter made announcements to protesting students. Singla said police were examining what he described as the “double face” of some protesters.

Jammu police said he has 21,000 followers on Instagram.

On Sahil, they said he was arrested from Doda, where his father is a government school teacher. His parents could not be contacted as they were said to have gone to Punjab.

Overall, four FIRs have been registered in the case. FIR 163, registered on September 28 at Satnampura police station, invokes sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act relating to alleged rioting, robbery, damage to property and violence inside the university, including the Uni Mall area.

FIR 106, registered the same day at Sadar Phagwara police station, invokes sections pertaining to attacks on police personnel, obstruction of public servants from performing duty, and damage to vehicles during attempts to control the violence.

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Singla said the SIT had formed several teams to identify and arrest the remaining accused.

On why the police waited before taking action to curb the protests, the DIG said the personnel initially exercised restraint as they did not want to take coercive action against students.

According to Singla, police intervened after protesters began pelting stones and bottles at police personnel and media representatives, and damaging vehicles.

The September 27 protest had begun around 2 am after social media claims circulated on Reddit that an LPU girl student had allegedly been sexually assaulted by an outsider and that the university administration had failed to act.

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As the news spread, protests erupted on the campus and moved to NH-44, where traffic was blocked for more than 18 hours. The unrest later escalated into alleged stone-pelting, vandalism, looting of shops in Uni Mall, damage to university property and arson.

Police are yet to trace the alleged sexual assault victim.

Singla said police had recorded statements of several girls, questioned people including hostel wardens, and sent a team to the hostel area concerned. But, he said, they have not yet found or traced the alleged victim. Police have also not been able to establish that the alleged sexual assault took place.

Asked about outsiders at LPU during the violence, Singla said the university had developed an ecosystem beyond its enrolled students, with alumni running businesses and working in various shops on the premises.

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Several former students are also settled in localities near the Law Gate, and police are examining whether people with such links participated in the violence.

On police’s continued engagement with students, Singla said they should be dealt with through “negotiation and compassion”. However, he said, those responsible for law-and-order violations would be dealt with firmly under the law.