LUCKNOW A common refrain echoed through the corridors of the sessions court here on Thursday as relatives of those arrested in the alleged fake international call centre case claimed their family members were unaware that the ‘call centre’ was allegedly involved in cyber fraud.A close associate of one accused’s family said most employees had been recruited from outside UP through phone interviews and issued formal appointment letters mentioning the Lucknow office as their workplace. (Pic for representation)Many of the relatives, who travelled to Lucknow from different states after learning about the police crackdown, said the accused had joined the company through a regular recruitment process, received formal offer letters and believed they were working for a legitimate firm.Nandini, cousin of one of the accused, flew to Lucknow from Bengaluru after hearing about the arrests. She said her cousin had been working with the company for the past few months and getting a salary of ₹34,000 after receiving an offer letter.“We were told he had secured a good job. None of us had any idea that such an operation was allegedly being run from the office,” she said. Nandini hired a lawyer and spent the day at the sessions court trying to gather information about her cousin’s case.Similar claims were made by the father of a young woman, who rushed to Lucknow from Punjab after learning about the police action.“My daughter joined the company only about a month ago and had recently received her first salary. She never told us anything suspicious about her work. We believe she was unaware of what was allegedly happening in the office and has been wrongly implicated,” he claimed. The man said he reached Lucknow late on Wednesday but was not allowed to meet his daughter.A close associate of another accused’s family said most employees had been recruited from outside UP through phone interviews and issued formal appointment letters mentioning the Lucknow office as their workplace.“Most of them believed they had been hired by a legitimate company. Very few employees were from Lucknow,” he added.As many of those arrested belong to different states, only a handful of relatives have so far reached Lucknow to pursue legal remedies.Police alleged that the call centre was operating an international cyber fraud racket targeting foreign nationals. The role of each accused is under investigation, and it remains to be determined whether individual employees were aware of the alleged illegal activities being carried out from the office.A total of 119 accused were arrested in the case and initially scheduled to be produced before the chief judicial magistrate (custom) at the sessions court. However, given the unusually large number of accused and the extensive security arrangements required, it was not feasible to accommodate them all within the court premises. Consequently, the CJM travelled to the Civil Lines Police Lines, where all the accused had been lodged and conducted the remand proceedings there.