Vishambar Mehrotra, whose eight-year-old son was killed in 1981, says police ignored tipoff from male prostitute

The father of a murdered boy has claimed that his son may have died at the hands of a Westminster paedophile ring and said Scotland Yard helped cover up the crime.

Vishambar Mehrotra, a retired magistrate whose eight-year-old son Vishal was killed in 1981, said he was contacted by a male prostitute at the time who said the boy may have been abducted and murdered by “highly placed” paedophiles linked to a now notorious guesthouse.

Mehrotra told the Telegraph that the prostitute alleged that judges and politicians were involved in a child abuse ring – but when he took a recording of the call to the police they did nothing about it.

The claims are the latest concerning an alleged establishment paedophile ring in Westminster in the 1970s and 80s.

Scotland Yard, which has launched two linked investigations into the child abuse ring allegations, declined to comment on the latest claims.

Mehrotra’s son Vishal was abducted as he walked home to Putney after watching the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer ride to their wedding in a carriage on 29 July 1981.

He had gone ahead of other family members for the last few hundred yards. He was last seen less than a mile from the guesthouse.

Mehrotra told the Telegraph that a few months after his son’s disappearance he received an anonymous call from a male prostitute.

“I was contacted by a young man who seemed to be in his 20s. He told me he believed Vishal may have been taken by paedophiles in the Elm Guest House near Barnes Common. He said there were very highly placed people there. He talked about judges and politicians who were abusing little boys,” he said.

Mehrotra, a solicitor who was a JP at Wimbledon magistrates court until retiring in 2006, claims the man said he had already informed police about activities at the guesthouse, but had received no response.

He added: “I recorded the whole 15-minute conversation and took it to police. But instead of investigating it, they just pooh-poohed it and I never heard anything about the tape again. The whole thing went cold.

“At that time I trusted the police. But when nothing happened, I became confused and concerned. Now it is clear to me that there has been a huge cover-up. There is no doubt in my mind.”

Part of Vishal’s body was found in woodland in West Sussex in February 1982, seven months after he disappeared. There was no trace of his legs, pelvis or lower spine or of his outer clothes or Superman underwear.

Four months after Vishal’s remains were found, police raided the Elm Guest House and questioned dozens of men, reportedly including at least 30 prominent public figures and businessmen.

Mehrotra said: “This guesthouse 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.”

The police raid was reported at the time to be linked to the disappearance of another boy, Martin Allen, 15, who went missing on Guy Fawkes Night 1979 and whose body has never been found.

Martin’s brother Kevin Allen, 51, told the Telegraph that police should reopen the investigation into the teenager’s disappearance and that he had always suspected a cover-up.

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.”

He said more broadly: “We are at early stage of a reckoning with our past that is on a scale and gravity that just a few months ago might have seemed unimaginable and almost too horrific to contemplate. The task is to peel back the layers of deception that appear to have happened in the past.”