Pune, July 31 (IANS) A woman employee of IBM was found murdered on the outskirts of Pune late Friday night, police said Saturday.

Darshana Tongare, 21, was returning home around 9.15 p.m. from work when at least one assailant stabbed her in the chest with a sharp object, an official of Hinjewadi Police Station said.

"The incident took place in a dark and desolate area near Bavdhan village, around 6 km from Hinjewadi," the official told IANS.

According to the complaint lodged by her Ketan Tongare, Darshana was working with the IBM's facility in Yerawada, a few km from Hinjewadi.

The motive behind the killing is being probed and so far no arrests have been made in the case, the official added.

This is the second incident of murder involving an IT employee in the quiet Hinjewadi suburb of Pune in the past nine months.

Last October, Nayana Pujari, an employee of the software firm, Synechron, was gang-raped and murdered by some unknown assailants.

In April this year, a married woman who had gone for a job interview was gang-raped by some men who offered her a lift in their vehicle.