The police inspector who was shot in the arm is said to have told police investigators that his revolver went off accidentally during a tiff with his friends at Ghoshpara in Howrah’s Shibpur on Wednesday night.

Officers from the Howrah police commissionerate briefly met Jayanta Pal at a private hospital on Andul Road on Friday, where he is being treated for his bullet injury.

Investigators said they were matching what Pal told them about that accidental firing with circumstantial evidence, CCTV footage and accounts of eyewitnesses.

The bore of a fired shell, which was recovered from beneath a medicine store close to the incident site, will also be sent for forensic examination to find out if it matches with that of Pal’s service revolver, they said.

A country-made improvised firearm was recovered close to the petrol pump on Netaji Subhas Road where Pal slumped on Wednesday night close to a car that had a “police” sticker pasted on a removable plate.

Officers said the firearm was of 7mm bore, unlike that of a service revolver of a police inspector, which is 9mm.

The inspector in charge of a police station in Hooghly was found lying near a car with a bullet injury on his left arm in Howrah’s Ghoshpara in Shibpur close to midnight on Wednesday. He was identified as Jayanta Pal, who was till then the inspector in charge of Chanditala police station in Hooghly. There were three people in the car, including a woman, cops from Howrah probing the incident said.

CCTV grabs with the police showed Pal walking towards the car, which stood stationary, adjacent to the petrol pump on Netaji Subhas Road. He slumped on the road after reaching the car. Two eyewitnesses walked down towards him and bent down. The officer stood up without any support.

“We are probing how this firearm reached the spot where he was found lying with a gunshot injury on his left arm. It is still not clear whether he had used this particular firearm or his service revolver,” said a senior officer of the Howrah police commissionerate.

A preliminary investigation by Howrah police revealed Pal left Chanditala police station in Hoghly around 10.30pm on Wednesday on a personal job. A woman was with the police inspector along with at least two others when he suffered the bullet injury. Officers have identified the woman and her statements have been recorded, sources said.

On Friday, the woman’s mother told reporters that her daughter went to her friend’s place and that she was not involved in the incident.

The Hooghly rural police have also started a separate probe to determine whether Pal had followed the mandatory steps before leaving his posting district to visit another.

A three-member team has been set up to probe the incident.

“We are considering all aspects, including whether the inspector had made a general diary entry about leaving the police station and if he had picked up any item from the police station’s malkhana,” said a senior officer of the Hooghly rural police.

On Thursday, hours after the incident, Pal was relieved of his responsibility as inspector in charge of the Chanditala police station.