Patna, Aug 3 (IANS): After Nitish Kumar, former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has also backed the demand of the opposition parties for investigation in Pegasus snooping controversy.

Manjhi is the second leader in the NDA government in Bihar after Nitish Kumar to demand a probe.

"If leaders of opposition parties are demanding a probe in the Pegasus phone tapping case and disrupting the monsoon session of parliament, then it means it is a serious issue and the Narendra Modi government should initiate inquiry into the matter," Manjhi said.

"The investigation will reveal who was involved in espionage. People of the country have the right to know who is involved in mischief," Manjhi said.

Kumar on Monday had said that the Centre should initiate investigation and action should be taken against persons involved in it.

"If any one is tapping the phone of others and using it for their advantage, the act is extremely wrong and punishable," Nitish Kumar said.

When Nitish Kumar was informed by reporters that the Centre is denying it, he said he knows how such information has come in the public domain on the issue. There must be something in it and needs to be probed soon.

According to reports published by 17 media organizations, the phones of prominent leaders, bureaucrats, judges, journalists, were tapped between 2017 and 2019. The leaders of opposition parties are demanding a probe of a dedicated committee of the parliament or under the monitoring of the supreme court.