<br/>On his first visit to the heart of Naxal territory in West Bengal, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today ruled out involvement of military in anti-Maoist operations. He made a fresh offer of dialogue with the left-wing extremists. Mr. Chidambaram today visited Lalgarh in West Midnapore district for an assessment of the situation and review of the anti-Maoist drive. He told reporters after an hour-long meeting with top police and administrative officials in Lalgarh that during discussions with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Kolkata, he had stated that the "buck stops" at the Chief Minister's table with regard to the law and order issue.<br/><br/>He termed the Naxals as cowards who are hiding in the forests and slammed them for using tribal group People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) as a front organisation. The PCPA has called a 24-hour bandh in West<br/>Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts in protest against the Home Minister's visit to the area. <br/><br/> Expressing concern over the "direct or indirect" support to Naxals by PCPA, he said if they have a genuine problem, he is willing to lend his good offices for ensuring talks between them and the state government.The Home Minister said, he has appealed to the villagers not to support the Maoists, which they were doing out of fear. He also said that intelligence reports suggest that Naxals are constantly regrouping to carry out low-intensity<br/>conflict and that there is a need for constant vigilance in the fight against them.<br/>