She walked through Delhi’s quiet neighborhoods with a calm face and a black purse over her shoulder. What seemed like the actions of any other working woman in Delhi, in reality, was the modus operandi of a 23-year-old burglar working under the radar. Tucked in her black purse were fifty keys, each one capable of opening the doors to someone else’s home
Joynila Tongsin Anal, a native of Chandel in Manipur, moved to Delhi in October 2024 looking for better opportunities. What followed was not the story of another job-seeking migrant making it in the big city, but rather one of breaking into houses, analysis of hundreds of CCTV feeds and eventual capture after meticulous police work.
Her break ins came to a halt when officers from the Anti-Burglary Cell of South West District, after combing through footage from over 250 CCTV cameras, arrested her from Delhi’s Chhatarpur area on Saturday. What they found in her possession was telling: fifty assorted keys that she allegedly used to break into houses, bypassing locks with chilling ease.
The hunt for Joynila began after two separate burglary complaints were filed, one from Kishangarh and another from Safdarjung Enclave. In the first, a resident reported missing items including a laptop, an LED TV, action camera and accessories. In the second, a man claimed that someone had entered his house and stolen some gold earrings, another diamond earring, an expensive set of headphones, shoes, and cash.
The pattern of both thefts was similar, quiet entry and selective theft of valuables. That was the first red flag.
Realising they were likely dealing with a serial burglar, the Anti-Burglary Cell swung into action. Under the leadership of Inspector Ram Kumar and supervision of senior officer Vijay Kumar, the team began pulling surveillance footage from around the two crime scenes. They watched hours of video, frame by frame, zooming in on faces, movements, and unusual behavior.
And there she was. In multiple clips, a young woman with a seemingly ordinary appearance could be seen walking into residential colonies alone, sometimes even carrying shopping bags — a perfect camouflage.
But her behavior raised eyebrows. The footage showed her entering areas but not returning the same way, sometimes switching directions or changing outfits between locations.
The woman was identified as Joynila Tongsin Anal, who had previously worked at a call center in Delhi before turning to burglary. Police later confirmed she had already been arrested once earlier in another case under Kishangarh Police Station. Now, with the evidence stacked against her, the officers moved quickly.
When apprehended from her rented room in Chhatarpur, police recovered a haul of stolen items: headphones, multiple ladies purses, a pair of shoes, and an LED TV - some of which matched the items stolen in the recent FIRs. But the most astonishing discovery was the set of 50 keys - likely gathered over time - which she used to quietly enter homes without drawing attention.
During interrogation, Joynila confessed to her crimes. She revealed how she chose target areas where people often left homes unattended during work hours. The keys, she said, were collected from various sources and modified slightly to work on generic locks used in residential neighborhoods. She would carry herself confidently, sometimes even pretending to be a visitor or a house help, and would flee with small but valuable items.
Police officials say that Joynila’s profile is unusual, not only because she operated alone, but also because her tactics were organised and systematic, often seen in more seasoned male burglars than young women working solo. Her method of carrying keys instead of breaking locks meant she left little trace, which explains how she managed to evade arrest for months.
Joynila has now been booked under multiple cases registered at Safdarjung Enclave and Kishangarh police stations under Section 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. More cases are likely to be connected to her as investigations progress.
“Her arrest is a significant breakthrough. It shows the growing reliance on forensic and technical evidence in cracking such cases,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel.