Under the LDA scam, 123 residential plots in 1996-97 were sold at the rate of 1985 in the Jankipuram area of the state capital. Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati was the chief minister of the state during that time. Fifteen people, including 11 employees of the LDA, were initially prosecuted in this case.

The files, lost days before Yogi Adityanath took oath as the state’s new chief minister, were kept in the chief engineer’s office. According to the news channel, LDA's vice chairman Satyendra Singh could be behind the misadventure. He has been accused of anomalies in some other cases before.