Jamshedpur, June 25: Dayanand Public School boy Sudhanshu, in hospital with a bullet lodged in his spine after he was shot and critically injured by a classmate, is finally out of danger, much to the relief of his parents who are now thinking of taking him to CMC-Vellore for surgery to remove the bullet.

Today, the Class XI student, sitting on his bed at the high dependency unit (HDU) of Tata Main Hospital, said the incident was an accident, contradicting his father who had, on the day of the shooting on Wednesday, said he couldn't be sure.

"He wasn't good in studies and had bad company, I knew," Sudhanshu (17) told The Telegraph about the classmate who shot him from three - not two as reported earlier -benches behind him. "But I feel bad that he is in jail. I think the firing must have happened accidentally," he said.

Recalling the events of the day, Sudhanshu said that he, along with nine fellow students, was sitting in the classroom and preparing to go for assembly when suddenly they heard a cracker-like sound. "Within minutes I felt pain and my body went numb," he said.

"I did not have any enmity with him," he said about the boy who fired at him.

"We used to go home together to Mango often. He was sitting three benches behind me in class and I was hearing him boast about a gun which he had in his bag and was showing to other students," Sudhanshu said about his classmate who had come with not one, but two pistols in his school bag.

TMH today declared Sudhanshu stable and out of danger. "The bleeding from the lung has stopped and after monitoring his condition we have decided to shift him to a ward near HDU," said TMH general manager Dr G. Ramdas, adding that neurological opinion was that the bullet in his spine wasn't posing any immediate danger.

"Any surgical intervention to remove the bullet might put the boy at risk. However, we have given the family the option of taking him elsewhere for further treatment if they so desire," he said.

Sudhanshu's parents looked relieved. "We are thankful to the TMH doctors as their efforts have brought back our boy from a very critical position. We will be taking their advice on which hospital would be the best for extracting the bullet from his spine. As of now, we have heard that Christian Medical College-Vellore is good. We want to take our son there," said his advocate father Devendra Kumar Gupta.

Police suspect the Class XI boy who shot Sudhanshu wasn't a minor as he had failed a couple of times. He has been arrested, the two pistols seized and sent to Ghaghidih jail. The weapons were given to the boy by Sunny Singh (24), who was arrested along with Vivek Kumar (20) yesterday from their homes in New Subhash Colony of Mango.

Sunny has revealed, SSP East Singhbhum Anoop T. Mathew today said, that the both pistols had been given to him by Shintu Singh, alias Abhimanyu, a murder accused.

"Shintu, a resident of Kapali near Mango, is wanted for the murder of Congress leader Shanbabu Mukhi earlier this month near Adityapur Toll Bridge in Adityapur in neighbouring Seraikela-Kharsawan district. He is absconding. He had given the pistols to Sunny, who had given them to the Dayananand Public School student for safe keeping," the SSP said.