Ranchi, June 14 -- Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi on Sunday alleged that the chief minister's office (CMO) was directly involved in an illegal mining racket operating across the state.

The allegations came after Marandi visited the Argadda area in Ramgarh district to assess the situation following a tragic accident at an illegal coal mine that claimed the lives of four labourers on Saturday.

The victims, identified as Deva Bedia, Dablu Bedia, Kishor Ravani, and Ashish Ghatwar, died of suffocation while trying to rescue another individual who had fallen into a closed, abandoned mine pit.

Expressing his condolences to the grieving families, the BJP leader rejected the administration's classification of the incident as a mere ac...