Mehsana (Gujarat), February 8 A lawyer and four others have been arrested for allegedly looting warehouses in the town of Unjha, in the Mehsana district of Gujarat, Asia's largest cumin trading center, and stealing spice worth approximately ₹3 crore, police said on Sunday.
The accused, including a lawyer based in Patan, allegedly used duplicate keys to break into two warehouses on the Unawa Highway between December 12, 2025 and January 2, and stole several hundred sacks of cumin from trucks at night, Mehsana Deputy Superintendent of Police Dineshsinh Chauhan said.
Following investigations, the accused were arrested last month, he said.
The stolen spices belonged to two traders who filed complaints at the Unawa police station on January 4 after they discovered the stock missing, and two FIRs have been registered, the official said.
The local crime branch received information that some men had been contacting traders in Unjha, offering cumin at unusually low prices, Chauhan said.
"Based on CCTV footage and information received by the police, a truck driver was identified and questioned. This led the police to one of the accused, Jumma Khan, after which the entire network was uncovered," he said.
He said that the police have arrested the main accused, Ikram Memon, a lawyer practicing in the Patan district court, along with Wajahat Khan, Jumma Khan, Sadiq Memon and Gaurav Patel.
Two others, Imran Jamil, based in Delhi, and his unidentified accomplice, are still at large, he added.
"From mid-December to January 2, traders had deployed a security guard at the warehouses. However, instead of staying put, he would leave after checking the locks every day," Chauhan said.
Investigations revealed that the accused had prepared duplicate keys after examining the original locks, and they entered the warehouses at night using these, he said.
"Laborers and trucks were brought in, and cumin worth nearly ₹3 crore was stolen in 10 trips," the official said.
According to the police, the accused lawyer played a key role in forming a local gang to execute the theft after Delhi-based Jamil came up with the plan.
Jamil, who is absconding, is an expert in making keys and allegedly prepared duplicate keys, police said, adding that Gaurav Patel's role was to keep watch on police movement, while Jumma Khan arranged trucks and laborers.
The other accused, Sadiq Memon, who has a criminal background, assisted in the execution of the theft, and Wajahat Khan was involved in selling the stolen cumin in the market, they said.
The accused posed as farmers and sold a portion of the stolen cumin in Deesa and Unjha market yards, Chauhan said.
He said that the police have so far recovered ₹45 lakh in cash from the arrested accused and seized 121 sacks of unsold cumin.
