Westminster sex abuse scandal: Police investigate father's claims that eight-year-old son was murdered by Conservative MP
Vishal Mehrotra, eight, was murdered in 1981
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Scotland Yard is investigating claims made by the father of an eight-year-old boy who was murdered 33 years ago that his young son may have been killed by a Westminster paedophile ring.
Retired magistrate Vishambar Mehrotra claims to have recorded a male sex worker admitting that his eight-year-old son Vishal may have been abducted and taken to a notorious guest house in London which is now at the centre of a wide-ranging child sex abuse inquiry.
Mr Mehrotra said he took the recording to the Met at the time but claimed they refused to investigate an allegation implicating “judges and politicians”.
Scotland Yard announced last week that it was investigating possible murders linked to the Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London, in 1981. Operation Midland was launched when an alleged victim came forward claiming to have witnessed three boys being killed, including one allegedly strangled by a then-Conservative MP during a sex game.
Vishal, from Putney, south-west London, was last seen a mile from the Elm Guest House. He was abducted while walking home after watching Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer riding in their carriage after their wedding on 29 July 1981. His skull and several rib bones were discovered a year later by pigeon shooters in remote marshland at Durford Abbey Farm, at Rogate, close to the Hampshire-West Sussex border.
Mr Mehrotra, 69, claims he received an anonymous call from a male prostitute thought to be in his 20s who told him Vishal may have been abducted by “highly placed” paedophiles operating from the Elm Guest House.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “He said there were very highly placed people there. He talked about judges and politicians who were abusing little boys. This guest house was right next to where Vishal disappeared. There were predatory people there who were taking young boys and abusing them.
“It seems to me that it all adds up, so I can’t understand why the police have again failed to get in contact with me. I think the revelations of [Jimmy] Savile and others in recent months have opened up a Pandora’s box. Hopefully everything will all come out soon.”
West Sussex coroner Mark Calvert Lee recorded an open verdict at the inquest into Vishal’s death but said “foul play” was likely.
Police said 20,000 people had been interviewed regarding Vishal’s disappearance, half of them in nearby Putney, and 6,000 properties checked. Mr Mehrotra said he had “hardly been contacted” by police in the intervening years.
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said the case needed to be investigated. “It is absolutely shocking that survivors of child abuse were not listened to,” he said on LBC radio. “You cannot think of more serious or grotesque allegations. It clearly needs to be looked into.”
A Met spokesman said they were looking at their records and liaising with West Sussex police regarding the claim.