Amidst Jayalalitha's hi jinks (she is repeatedly declaring that she will be the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu and will not share power with her allies) and the beginning of the last session of the state assembly before the elections in May, one major event in Chennai last week was Dr Subramanian Swamy's expose on the Maino family of Italy and its eminent Indian representative, Sonia Gandhi.

He said that he had met Federal Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani in this connection on January 10 and said that unless the Government of India (GOI) took action on his complaints of the Maino family's involvement in smuggling of artefacts from India, he would file a public interest litigation (PIL), preferably in Chennai in course of time.

Later, in a letter to Advani on January 18 he said: "I have brought to your attention the systematic piracy and illegal export of our ancient treasures. This organised looting racket originates in Chennai and then agents in Italy arrange for sales.

Preventive action taken by the government so far has been weak and corrupted. The government therefore to undo this plunder of the past ought to mobilise international police agencies, stop outlets abroad such as Southebys in London, search shop outlets abroad that display Indian antiques as well as talk to respected experts in the field such as members of the Royal family of Kuwait, to prepare a complete dossier on the subject.

As a first step I suggest the Indian Embassy in Rome visit Orbassano and Rivolta, where the shops "Ganapati" and "Etnica" have been stocking priceless Indian antiques. Both these shops are directly or indirectly owned by the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi's mother Paola Maino and sister Anushka Vinci. They appear to have been provided VIP cover in India for these smuggling operations.

"I would also urge you to direct the agencies of government to investigate as to who have been acting as couriers and 'runners' in this smuggling operation. Most of the piracy has been done in Tamil Nadu and taken out abroad on false certification from Chennai and Bangalore international airports.

"I am glad to note from the CBI director's press statements that letters rogatory have been issued to 17 nations for discovering the funding of LTTE terrorist activities. I hope that Italy is one of those 17 nations since the LTTE has been deeply involved in antique smuggling from Tamil Nadu to Italy. LTTE has strongholds in Palmero, Stromboli and Milan in Italy."

He said that the GOI knew all about the situation and the BJP was possibly waiting to lower the boom on Sonia Gandhi just before the next parliament elections – not unlikely towards the end of this year. He wanted to pre-empt the BJP from embarrassing the secular forces in the country.

He wanted Sonia to resign from Congress party's presidentship, "since otherwise her Italian family's nefarious activities would become an albatross around the neck of the secular opposition in the country and therefore the BJP cannot be effectively challenged."

Swamy also accuses Sonia of having "gone soft on the LTTE, the killers of Rajiv Gandhi and thus (having) betrayed his memory". He said that there were "close business links between the notorious Ottavio Quattrocchi and members of Sonia's Italian family, the Mainos, as one illustration of the nefarious activities. Quattrocchi has been the middle man for the LTTE in purchase of weapons in Phuket, Thailand and in narcotics trade.

According to Swamy, Quattrocchi who is accused in the Bofors scandal, battened on the Indian connection and has an account in Panama in the name of Vinci. In a statement issued in Chennai on Friday, he urged Sonia to either deny that Quattrocchi was her friend or prevail upon him to return to India and submit to the legal process. "It is wrong for Sonia Gandhi and the Congress to hide behind Rajiv Gandhi's statement that he and his family did not get any Bofors Commission".

The CBI has a case relating to Southern Arts, Exporters of Indian Handicrafts, for export of banned antiquities and art treasures. This case is dated July 93. The company's address was in Chennai. The case was proceeded with by Dr Margabandhu, a CBI official, since transferred. Dr Swamy also challenges Sonia's claim to having been educated at Cambridge.

He also asks why Sonia appealed for mercy to four of those sentenced to death in the Rajiv assassination case and why she is allied with the Dravida Kazhagam, which is close to the LTTE and why she asked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit to give land to the Dravida Kazhagam in Delhi. He has stated that he will come out with more revelations on the Maino family shortly. For further details, he requests people to contact him on his Harvard e-mail: swamy@fas.harvard.edu.