The BJP on Thursday acknowledged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Ramnagar, where Jim Corbett National Park is located, on the day of the Pulwama terror attack but claimed he was there for an official event related to tiger conservation and not to shoot for a film as alleged by the Congress.

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, fielded by the party to rebut the allegations, snapped when he was asked questions about Modi’s presence in the park for long after the attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

“This is a totally baseless charge,” he said when a journalist asked if the Prime Minister continued with the film’s shooting till the evening, by when everyone knew of the magnitude of the attack. When the journalist continued with his question, a visibly angry Prasad said: “I have answered your question, don’t argue with me”. He added: “I deny it completely.”

Earlier, addressing the media, Prasad said Modi “was in Ramnagar for an official programme related to tiger conservation”.

The minister then said: “If the Congress party knew that an attack was going to take place in Pulwama... if their information network is so strong, good. We didn’t know.” He added that Modi had to drive a long way to catch a flight back to Delhi because of bad weather.