A group of MPs is backing a father’s call for the re-opening of the investigation into the death of his eight year old son who disappeared in 1981.
Vishal Mehrotra, 8, disappeared in Putney after a family day trip to watch the Royal Wedding in 1981. It was seven months before his remains were found in isolated woodland in West Sussex in February 1982. His father, Vishambar, believes his son may have been murdered by a paedophile gang.
A document obtained by the radio station LBC under the Freedom of Information Act has raised new questions for Mr Mehrotra about the handling of the case.
The document – a review by Sussex Police carried out in 2005 – reveals that several police forces had looked at whether there was a connection with the killings carried out by notorious paedophile Sidney Cooke in the 1980s.
The review, which Mr Mehrotra only saw for the first time last week, says the Met’s paedophile unit believed there were “strong similarities” between the Vishal’s death and the Sidney Cooke killings. But it’s unclear from the document what ever happened to these inquiries.
In his first television interview since the recent revelations, Mr Mehrotra told Channel 4 News: “For 33 years I was not kept in the loop at all. They did or they did not do whatever they wanted to do. I assumed they did their utmost but in light of the new revelations, in parliament and various other sources, and I know there’s Operation Orchid, Operation Midlands, IPCC are now involved.
“What is apparent to me is that from the document that I have seen now that there are too many questions that they need to answer rather than answers in this document.”
Mr Mehrotra says he now wants police to reopen the investigation into his son’s death: “I feel that the time for closure is well past, and they [the police] should be doing their job thoroughly and properly and now with forensics and the way it has advanced, I believe that if they reinvestigated Vishal’s murder, maybe something concrete will come about. That is important to me.”
An informant told officers in the 1980s that Cooke and his gang had bragged about murdering numerous other children, including an “Asian boy”. Mr Mehrotra also wants the Metropolitan Police to review the way it handled that information – and the force is now examining what was done to establish if the boy was Vishal.
Speaking about the link, Mr Mehrotra adds: “There is mention of Sidney Cooke’s involvement with other similar deaths but again my son seems to be on the back burner on this and they never seem to have questioned him about it. I don’t know why they [the police] are reluctant to talk to him.”
Sussex Police say it is carrying out a further review into Vishal’s death “to see whether or not there may be any new investigative opportunities” although say the case has not been re-opened.
The Metropolitan Police, which is investigating potential homicides linked to an alleged paedophile ring involving VIPs, is working with the Sussex force to establish if Vishal’s death is linked in any way.
Tonight, MPs including Zac Goldsmith, Tessa Jowell and Sarah Champion have added their support to Mr Mehrotra’s calls for the case to be reopened.