The family of a murdered schoolboy have criticised the police for a “baffling” failure to reinvestigate the case despite “significant” new evidence coming to light 42 years after he disappeared.
Vishal Mehrotra, eight, was abducted from west London in July 1981 and his remains were found in Rogate, West Sussex, seven months later. No one has been prosecuted for his murder.
A BBC podcast series called Vishal has unearthed fresh material that may link the case to a prolific paedophile ring operating in the area at that time.
Shaun Keep, a former Scotland Yard detective who helped convict the killers of Stephen Lawrence, described the new evidence as “a breakthrough” and “a real significant moment” in the inquiry.
The material includes the discovery of a document, titled Vishal, written in 1983 by a man convicted of child sexual offences about a boy he was abusing.
The document was created a year after Vishal’s remains were found in woodland less than five miles from where the mother of this offender lived, in a property where he is known to have abused children. It has been held by Sussex police since the 1990s but was only connected to Vishal’s murder four years ago.
The offender who wrote the document was jailed for 16 years after being convicted of 17 offences in 1998, including 10 sexual abuse charges against young boys in his care.
The podcast, which launches on Monday, identifies other sexual offenders who were part of this man’s group in Sussex at the time Vishal was killed, some of whom also had links to west London. One of these men went on the run while being questioned by police and was tracked down by the podcast team in Sri Lanka.
Sussex police said it had spoken to three of these four men in 2020 and that there was “no evidence” linking them to Vishal’s murder. It is understood they were not formally interviewed by police in connection with the case.
Keep, who discovered the “Vishal” document while reviewing cold cases for Sussex police in 2019, said he was “quite aghast” at the force’s response: “I did feel it was entirely inadequate, quite frankly.”
Vishal’s brother, Suchin Mehrotra, said he was “baffled” at Sussex police’s response and that his family felt they had been “fobbed off so consistently” by the force.
It emerged last year that the force had formally reviewed the investigation only once since 1981, contrary to national guidance which states that unsolved cases should be considered for review every two years.
Sussex police said Vishal’s murder had been on its schedule of cases that are “assessed” every two years – short of a major review – and that it was satisfied that all inquiries in relation to the four sexual offenders had been “thorough and completed with careful consideration of all surrounding information”.
Vishal’s father, Vishambar Mehrotra, a former magistrate, has previously said he had “no doubt” that police had failed to catch his son’s killer due to institutional racism – a claim denied by the force.
Suchin Mehrotra, 30, said it was becoming “harder and harder” to avoid the suspicion that his family were the victims of institutional racism.
“I can’t say clearly that this is an example of racism but … it becomes harder and harder to disregard it,” he said. “If we weren’t Indian, would that have happened? Would his case have been reviewed every two years like it’s supposed to have been? Would they be less defensive today?”
He added: “I think we’re owed, as any person would be, a sincere effort so we know that everything that could have been done has been done, whether’s it’s 42 years ago or now. So many opportunities have been presented and they continue to do nothing.”
Sussex police said they had advised Vishal’s family that at present “there are no proportionate or viable lines of enquiry to be followed up in this investigation”.
They added: “Even after more than 40 years, we will continue to take any opportunity to pursue any new lines of enquiry that might lead to justice being obtained for Vishal and his family.
“This is still an open and unresolved investigation and we can assure the public and the family of Vishal that no murder investigation is ever closed unless it is detected.”
