She was stabbed with a kitchen knife and the post mortem report revealed 66 stab injuries all over the body. Moreover, the killers did not make attempts to search the house for valuables and money and only took away ornaments worn by the deceased. A senior police official said that all these factors point towards a motive other than robbery.

During the investigation, the police have determined that the murder took place between 3.15 pm to 3.45 pm. Police officials said that Nirmala had called up a tutor at around 3.25 pm and the maid-servant had found her lying in a pool of blood at around 3.45 pm. The last call made by Nirmala was traced by re-dialling the phone and the time of this call was confirmed by the teacher, the police said.

The sequence of events re-constructed by the police is that around 3 pm two persons, who were known to the Nirmala rang her doorbell. They were allowed entry by Nirmala as they were known to her (the woman never opened the door to strangers. A fact confirmed by her relatives). The killers stabbed the woman with a kitchen knife on the neck, stomach, chest, limbs and back.

They washed their hands in a bucket, left the knife at the spot and quietly walked out of the house. Before leaving, they took off the deceased's ornaments so as to give an impression that it was a simple case of robbery. Investigators are of the opinion that the stab wounds on Nirmala's body suggest that the assailants had come with only one intention, that of murder.