By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent
A former detective has told Sky News he is "ashamed to be a retired officer" after a systematic cover-up to protect the late MP Cyril Smith from child abuse allegations.
The officer, who did not want to be identified, joined Greater Manchester Police in the early 1970s and served for over 20 years working on many high-profile investigations.
He spoke exclusively to Sky News and said he and his colleagues were amazed at how they were closed down when they had the evidence to prosecute Smith, who died in 2010.
He said: "To have all that taken away in the blink of an eye, put into a box … it is similar to watching the X-Files when you see a box being taken into a big warehouse and it is never to be seen or heard of again. That was how it felt."
He revealed his team were ordered never to speak about the investigation again.
"It was a senior police officer. In those circumstances when you are confronted by a very senior police officer, unless you are working with them, you don't remember the names, you remember the rank. It is the rank that is giving the order."
He cannot say who the man was but he suspects he was from the Metropolitan Police. "We only had our suspicions, the suspicions led back down to London," he said.
"I have to say that I am getting to be ashamed to say I am a retired police officer," he added.
The ex-detective believes there could be hundreds of retired officers who are aware of what happened but still would not have the confidence to speak out.
He said: "People coming forward will feel frightened and nervous, but once the story has been revealed they will feel an awful lot better.
"The more officers that come forward the better because the powers that be just wouldn't be able to cope with it."
He believes the IPCC-led investigation into allegations of police misconduct will face many barriers but urged officers to speak out and do what is "morally right".
His comments were echoed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett said: "I want to make an appeal for anyone who has information about the way the authorities including Greater Manchester Police dealt with reports of child abuse to come forward.
"I also appeal to victims who suffered abuse in care homes and other institutions who made complaints then or have suffered in silence and not reported what they went through to consider contacting the police or indeed one of the children's or survivors charities."
He said the GMP had allocated "considerable resources" to the investigation, adding "we are committed to investigate all the allegations as best we can".
"... We have already interviewed a large number of people and still have numerous enquiries to undertake. We are speaking to everyone no matter what status they have held or still hold to get to the truth.
"Greater Manchester Police has no interest in covering up any of these issues," he said.
On Wednesday Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs people would not be prosecuted for speaking out about child abuse cover-ups.
"I don't want to see anyone prosecuted for uncovering wrongdoing in this way," he said.
Greater Manchester Police has urged anyone with information to call the incident room on 0161 856 0310, the Police and Crime Commissioner's office or the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
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