The body of a four-year-old girl, who was reportedly missing, was found at a bush in Kacharapara village under the Raighar police station in Nabarangpur district on Friday.
According to information, Pooja, the only daughter of Sankar Gond of the village, had gone to play with other children on Thursday afternoon. As she did not return by late evening, her parents conducted a frantic search but failed to locate her.
However, her body was found with injury marks lying at a bush, 300 metre from her house. Her tongue and ears were found slashed, police said.
The motive of the murder was not yet known and a probe would only ascertain if it was a case of child sacrifice, said the police.