Nine persons have been arrested in connection with arson, vandalism, robbery and highway blockades that took place during protests at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara on September 27 and 28. Seven of those arrested – including a juvenile — are students of the university, while two are outsiders.The accused have been identified as outsiders Gagandeep and Jasmeet Kumar of Phagwara, and students James Dahiya of Sonepat, Ashutosh of Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh, Antriksh Dutta of Jammu, Sahil Singh of Jammu, Krishna Kumar of Marukiya, Maharashtra, and Bhavishya Karan of Kalyan East, Maharashtra.The arrested juvenile, who hails from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, was seen atop a MIG-23 during vandalism — an iconic image, which became the face of the recent protests held at the university. As per preliminary reports, the juvenile’s father works at the DC Office in Mandi.The police have also identified a social media influencer, Farhat Dev, a former BBA student of LPU, as one of the accused in the case. He also remained a viral face of LPU protests and is a friend of Sahil and Antriksh, as per viral internet videos. Farhat is yet to be arrested, the police said.The police have so far identified 40 persons connected to the LPU incidents.DIG Naveen Singla holds a press conference in Jalandhar regarding LPU violence. Photo: Sarabjit SinghWhile speaking to the media here today, Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla, along with Kapurthala Gaurav Toora, said, “As many as 20 persons had been named in FIR No. 163, registered at the Satnampura police station in Kapurthala. All arrests have been made as per the same FIR, registered under Sections 326(g), 324(4) and 309(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 4 of the Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act, 2014, on September 28.”While a SIT had been constituted to look into the LPU rampage case in detail, the DIG said detailed investigations were currently under way in the case. All arrests had been made as per videos, images retrieved (on campus) as well as Internet and other investigation channels.Speaking to press, the DIG said, “The SIT constituted had formed multiple teams and scanned digital evidence from various sources, including social media platforms, news channels, CCTV footages from LPU and other sources. Accused were found involved in arson, rioting robbery, unprovoked lethal attack on police force, blockading the National Highway and ransacking the LPU infrastructure.”The DIG added, “Some accused are from the Law Gate area outside the LPU campus, where an ecosystem of students, alumni, traders and dealers exists. There are some elements among the accused who remained the face of peaceful protests in the day and indulged in arson and vandalism in the night. The arrests have been made following a meticulous probe from all angles and other culprits won’t be spared.”The DIG said another FIR No. 106 was also registered at the Police Station Sadar, Phagwara, under Sections 109, 132, 221, 326(b), 326(g) and 324(5) of the BNS on the charges of arson, robbery, attacks and torching of police vehicles.The DIG said the police were also simultaneously carrying out investigations in the original rape FIR registered at the Satnampura police station, the victim of which hadn’t yet been identified but the probe was currently under way, and staff and students were being questioned.Five of the accused students had been arrested by Thursday and three had been produced in a Phagwara court.