Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on Friday that he has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepting full responsibility for the massacre of 76 security personnel in Chhattisgarh, the worst Maoist attack since the insurgency started four decades ago.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "fully backs" Home Minister P. Chidambaram and had rejected his offer of resignation following the Maoist massacre of 76 security personnel in Chhattisgarh, government sources said.

"PM has declined to accept the home minister's offer for resignation. The PM fully backs his senior cabinet colleague," said a top official.

The home minister had written to the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi accepting blame for Tuesday's attack that led to the killing of 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and a Chhattisgarh policeman in a Bastar forest, the worst Maoist assault since the insurgency began more than four decades ago, an official privy to the letter added.

"I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada," said Chidambaram, adding that he has no hesitation to accept that the buck stops at his desk.

"I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops after the attack. The buck stops at my desk," Chidambaram said at a CRPF function here.

Chidambaram said he had given this in writing to the prime minister, immediately after his return from Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, a day after the massacre.

"Let me not elaborate," the home minister said, three days after the attack in the forests of Dantewada district that killed 75 troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force and one Chhattisgarh policeman.

The families of the slain personnel would be given full compensation before the end of this month, Chidambaram said.

He also offered a job for a family member of each of the slain personnel.

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