The family dispute between the heirs of the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan took a new twist this week when one of his great-grandsons, Himayat Ali Mirza, threatened a fast-unto-death.

The Nizam had two sons Moazzam Jah and Azam Jah. He bypassed them both and anointed his grandson Mukkaram Jah Bahadur, son of Azam Jah, the Nizam after him.

Mirza is now protesting the state government's 'failure' to prevent precious antiques from being smuggled out of India allegedly by Princess Esra, the divorced wife of Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the current uncrowned Nizam.

Mirza, Moazzam Jah's grandson, his uncle Dilshad Jah and their lawyer Nageswara Rao alleged Princess Esra has been smuggling precious antiques out of India in connivance with a lawyer, a senior police official, a top industrialist and a former chief minister who leased out prime properties of heritage value.

Mirza said he and his mother Princess Fouzia Fatima would go on a hunger strike if the government failed to intervene by today and protect the prime properties and antique pieces.

He said Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders K. Chandrasekhar Rao and A. Narendra would also launch their protest.

Princess Esra, who is of Turkish origin, is the daughter-in-law of Azam Jah.

Mirza said the Nazri Bagh, a listed heritage structure, was leased out to build a marriage hall.

Mirza charged Princess Esra with ordering certain structures to be demolished for her personal needs ignoring their heritage value.

"Priceless collections of paintings, jade, statues, English furniture, manuscripts and books have been clandestinely moved out of the Nizam's palaces and sold illegally to unlicensed private antique dealers," Mirza said.

Mirza also accused Vijay Shankar Das, the lawyer of Princess Esra who lives in London, of operating Princess Esra's illegal business in India. Mirza wanted to know how the government had been in league with Princess Esra in ripping off the Nizam's properties.

Mirza is a vice-president of the TRS.

Prior to the May Lok Sabha elections, K. Chandrasekhara Rao had said that the Nizam jewels worth Rs25 billion (Dh2.08 billion), currently in New Delhi, should be sold and the proceeds used to develop Telangana.

The jewels were bought by the federal government for Rs1.8 billion (Dh150 million) after lying in a Mumbai vault for over 20 years.