Three kangaroos spotted on the outskirts of Siliguri were rescued by foresters from the Baikunthapur forest division late on Friday evening.

The carcass of another kangaroo, suspected to be a member of the same group, was found on Saturday from a locality outside the city.

Foresters suspect an animal smuggling racket which was transporting the animals from the Northeast to some other place of the country released the kangaroos here to evade arrests.

Sources said a team of the Belakoba forest range of the division saw two kangaroos while patrolling along Canal Road on the southern end of Siliguri on Friday evening.

They brought those at the range office. After some time, they came to know that residents of Nepali Busty spotted another kangaroo. “We rushed to the spot and rescued it as well,” said Sanjay Datta, the range officer.

On Saturday morning, foresters got information that the carcass of a kangaroo had been found in Tharughati, another locality on the outskirts of Siliguri. “A team was sent to recover the carcass. We have sent it for post-mortem. The rescued three kangaroos have been sent to the Bengal Safari Park for treatment,” said Harikrishnan, the divisional forest officer of Baikunthapur.

According to him, all four kangaroos were sub-adults.

“The three kangaroos will be kept in quarantine at the safari park. Later, we will decide whether they will be kept at the park or sent to the Alipore zoo in Calcutta,” said a forester.

He said that as kangaroos are not native to India, it seems that the animals were being smuggled from Myanmar to the Northeast.

This is the second time kangaroos have been found in north Bengal. Earlier, a kangaroo was rescued from a truck in Alipurduar district while it was on its way to Madhya Pradesh.