Some of the 133 objects being repatriated are associated with the antiquities smugglers Subhash Kapoor and Richard Beale

The antiquities, collectively valued at $3m, include a bronze “Shiva Triad” from Cambodia that the dealer Nancy Wiener donated to the Denver Art Museum after failing to find a buyer for it

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office linked one of the works to Kapoor; another had been in the Rubin Museum’s collection

The repatriation comes after a report found more than 1,000 works linked to suspected or convicted traffickers in the museum’s collection

A new report claims New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has many items in its collection with major provenance issues

The objects associated with Kapoor, along with another five pieces returned to Pakistan, were cumulatively valued at $3.4m

The ruling culminates an extensive investigation into a smuggling ring headed by Kapoor

Among the works returned to India was a $4m bronze statue of the deity Shiva Nataraja that was stolen in the 1960s from a temple and smuggled into New York

"The decision to return the works is the culmination of years of research and due diligence," the Canberra museum says

Charges are pending against two New York-based antiquities dealers linked to the objects

Objects are reportedly linked to antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor who is facing criminal charges in the US

The government’s complaint outlines a massive alleged smuggling ring involving other dealers, art restorers and associates who helped create false provenances for looted objects