Outside the house in Ganga Vihar, Sunday. (Source: Express Photo/Oinam Anand) Outside the house in Ganga Vihar, Sunday. (Source: Express Photo/Oinam Anand)

A three-storey house in Ganga Vihar, a residential colony off the Yamuna Pusta, stands at the “registered” address of the 187 shell companies, which, according to ousted Water Minister Kapil Mishra, were illegally funding the AAP. Mira, who lives on the ground floor of the three-storey house, says, “I have been living here for the last five years. Speak to the owner. I have nothing to do with this.”

She calls out to an older woman in the neighbouring building, a towering four-storeyed ‘ashram’ with a mandir on the ground floor. Shashi Sharma, the owner of the ashram walks out, annoyed. “They have been coming all morning, asking the same questions. Why don’t you ask Kapil Mishra the truth? I know nothing about this,” Sharma says.

She adds that her brother-in-law, Mukesh Kumar, might know more but is in Hyderabad on a business trip. “Mukesh has nothing to do with AAP, Kapil Mishra or Kejriwal. We live in these two buildings and we built the ashram in memory of my husband. There are no offices here. Anyone can see,” Sharma says. Initially, Sharma refuses to hand over Mukesh’s number but relents and calls him. Speaking to The Indian Express over the phone, Mukesh says, “There are no shell companies and I have no connection with Kapil Mishra. I have not even seen Arvind Kejriwal in person.”

He adds, “My finances and my fundings to the party are clear and transparent. I will come back to Delhi and face Kapil Mishra. My case is being investigated by many agencies, including the Income-Tax department and the Registrar of Companies. Two of the four cases have been cleared…” Mukesh Kumar refers to allegations made by AAP Volunteers Action Manch (AVAM) — a splinter group of AAP — which in 2015 had alleged irregularities in donations made to the party.

The Indian Express at the time found that the four companies, which together donated Rs 2 crore to AAP, had substantial cash reserves running into crores but hardly any revenue. This came a few days prior to AVAM’s allegations against Canadian national Jaskirat Kaur Mann in 2015, who they claimed had given cheques worth Rs 2 crore to the party.

Official records with the Registrar of Companies showed the firms, which were set up between 1994 and 2009, long before AAP was formed in 2012, had three common directors — Hem Prakash Sharma, Dharmender Kumar and Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh Kumar says, “Where was Kapil Mishra in 2015? Why did he wake up now and why is he bringing all this up now and dragging me into his personal mess?”

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