Kolkata, Jul 24 (IANS): Former West Bengal minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee on Monday slammed a noted human right activist in the state for being silent in his case where he claimed to have spent over an year behind the bars without proper trial.

Sujato Bhadra, the noted human right activist, is a leading face in spearheading the movement in demand for the release of undertrial political prisoners.

Chatterjee targeted Bhadra while talking to media persons after he was being presented at a special court in Kolkata.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 23 last year on charges of his alleged involvement in the multi-crore school recruitment case in West Bengal.

“Where is Sujato Bhadra? Where are those who are vocal in demand of the release of undertrial political prisoners? I have been behind bars without a proper trial for over a year. Why are they not talking about me?” Chatterjee asked.

When asked about the trial, the former state education minister said that he was unnecessarily detained in the name of investigation and interrogation.

Meanwhile, Bhadra said Chatterjee had not been a prisoner for any political activities. “Chatterjee has not been imprisoned as a victim of any political conspiracy,” Bhadra explained.

Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) general secretary Ranjit Sur said that if Chatterjee is innocent he will be released at the end of the trial.

“But in this case the human rights activists groups cannot stand with him. There are charges of fund defalcation against him. The charges cannot be overruled at this point of time. To an extent Chatterjee played the role of an oppressor in this case. So it is not possible for us to stand with him,” Sur said.