A man was allegedly shot at by a friend he was having a drink with near his home in Beleghata on Sunday night.

Sushanta Das, 38, who runs a catering business and lives near Beleghata Main Road, has been hospitalised with a bullet wound in his neck.

The accused, Raja, alias Guddu Sharma, who works as a data entry operator, has been arrested on charges of attempt to murder.

After being shot at, Das somehow managed to reach home, which is 100 metres from the spot, and knocked on the door.

His elder sister opened the door and found him bleeding from his neck.

“He had mentioned Guddu Sharma’s name to his sister before passing out,” said an officer of Beleghata police station.

Sharma, a resident of the neighbourhood, also fled from the spot. He was arrested on Monday.

Police said the two were drinking together near Das’s home when the incident happened.

“According to the statement of the accused, he and the victim were friends. He said Das had taken out a gun and was pointing it at Sharma. The bullet got fired when the accused tried to snatch the gun from Das,” said a police officer.

“Sharma has claimed innocence and put the entire blame on the victim. We are verifying his claims. Circumstantial evidence. however, suggests the gun belongs to Sharma. The motive behind the firing is still not clear,” the officer added.

The police said they had seized the weapon, an improvised single-shot gun, from Sharma’s possession after he was arrested.

Officers were checking whether any old enmity between the two friends had led to the firing.

Das was operated on at a private hospital along EM Bypass on Monday evening.