Shimla, Jan 16 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Thursday filed in a local courtthree defamation cases againstBJP leader Arun Jaitley, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his sons, BJP MP Anurag Thakur and Arun Dhumal.

“I have filed three defamation cases under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code against Jaitley, Dhumal, Anurag Thakur and Arun,” Virbhadra Singh told reporters.

He said Jaitley and the Dhumals unleashed a malicious campaign against him and his family through the media. “Therefore, I was compelled to file defamation cases.”

At a press conference in Delhi Dec 30, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley demanded a probe and action from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress into allegations of payoff by a private company to the chief minister and his parliamentarian wife Pratibha Singh.

He alleged that Virbhadra Singh accepted around Rs.1.5 crore and Rs.2.4 crore, through cheques in his and his wife’s name, from Venture Energy and Technology Pvt. Ltd.

Jaitley said the company was given two extensions in a hydel power project despite defaulting.

“I am not afraid of the slanderous onslaught by Dhumal and other BJP leaders and will face them boldly. With the support and love and affection of the people of the state, I will give a befitting reply to the nefarious designs of the BJP leaders,” the chief minister said.

Virbhadra Singh said the Dhumal family was getting panicky as a charge sheet containing serious charges of corruption and land scams against Dhumal, his family members, former ministers and others, is being probed.