UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
According to a former officer, police were told to hand over all their evidence, as Nick Hopkins reports
An undercover police operation that gathered evidence of child abuse by Cyril Smith and other public figures was scrapped shortly after the MP was arrested, BBC Newsnight has been told.
The Liberal MP, who died in 2010, was held during a 1980s probe into alleged sex parties with teenage boys in south London, a source told the programme.
The source said Smith was released from a police station within hours.
The Met is looking into the handling of historical child sex abuse cases.
The force would not comment on the details of the allegations about Smith put to them by Newsnight.
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