It all started when I was travelling in a local train on the Harbour line – a long and arduous journey. Part of the sleepy passenger brigade, who had boarded the local train from Panvel for Andheri, I was seated next to a teenager, who was permanently glued to his 10-inch smart-phone. I couldn’t resist and quietly sneaked in a glance.

It appeared that he was watching the trailer of the latest blockbuster Grand Masti. Five minutes later, I realised that it was not a trailer, but the entire film that he had downloaded on his phone.

I nudged him gently and with great reluctance, he looked at me. I gestured that I wanted to talk to him.

I asked him how he could download the full film when it was released just a day before. And his answers sent me on an investigation trail. The conclusions of this investigation gave me a shocking result: A large part of the Indian Mujahideen operations are actually funded by Bollywood movies! This terrorist outfit directly benefits to the tune of Rs 900- Rs 1000 crore (annually) by distributing pirated films and Bollywood movies account for more than 75% of that amount. How Bollywood funds a terror outfit When I used to work as a crime reporter in a leading English newspaper published from Kolkata, there was a district superintendent of police (SP) who struck a rapport with me. Years later, he was posted with the IB (Intelligence Bureau). I decided to get in touch with him again.

After talking to him and that boy, I could piece together a story of how money is flowing into the coffers of the terror networks and how they are minting money through Bollywood films.

Following is a step-by-step process of how the Indian Mujahideen is making billions from Bollywood.

1) Agents copy from master copies: The piracy starts in smaller towns of India and reportedly in some specific areas on the outskirts of Delhi. As soon as the masterprint reaches the movie hall, the owner or an employee of the theatre allows an ‘agent’ to copy the film. In some cases, where technology is absent to copy a film from the master copy, they simply play it on the big screen and then shoot it with a video camera. The transfer and the distribution of the films are directly managed and supervised by agents of the Indian Mujahideen.

2) The copies are then digitally mastered: As soon as the first copy is made, the video file is transferred to locations in Pakistan (specifically on the outskirts of Karachi). The agent who had made the copy is paid through hawala. This agent vanishes from the network the moment the video file is found to be in order. The copies are again mastered in Pakistan and digitally revised to make it look better. A separate downloadable format is made for smartphones. Now, the files are ready to be transferred again.

3) The files start reaching certain video sharing sites: There are about 200 private networks and video sharing sites who buy these files from its Pakistani counterparts. These video sharing sites and private networks buy the files and then put it up on their sites for downloads. Now, you need to pay money for the downloads and only members can download these films. Websites who get access to these films need to pay somewhere around Rs 10 lakhs each to get access to these films. Once that money is paid to a particular account, the file is transferred to again. The terrorist organisation now completely moves away from the network.

4) You can now download the film: The whole operation (including money transfers) takes only 48 hours and generally by every Saturday, films are available for individual users. Some websites and networks offer the download for free and earn their money by including advertisements from porn sites. There are others who charge a nominal fee for these downloads, which usually ranges between Rs 100 to 200 INR.

5) How Asian NRIs patronise the Indian Mujahideen: I am sure there are millions who download the film in India, but a majority of the ‘patrons’ who fund the Indian Mujahideen are downloading the films abroad. Most of these Bollywood fans don’t have access to a Bollywood film in a theatre and they don’t want to wait till they can get a legal DVD of the film. Just ask around and you will realise that downloading latest Bollywood releases is an established practice for people living abroad.