Police said the victim, identified as P Veneela, daughter of a labourer working in the crushing unit, was fast asleep along with her parents in their hut. But when her mother woke up around midnight she found her daughter was missing and raised an alarm.

The beheaded body of the little girl was eventually found near a machine at the unit surrounded by flowers, coconut, vermilion and other materials normally used in shakti pooja, police said.

The owner of the unit expressed his ignorance of the matter and alleged that the girl's parents might have perpetrated the act to extract money from him.

Meanwhile, State Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has ordered an enquiry into the incident and directed the Superintendent of Police, Ranga Reddy district, to submit a detailed report.