KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government on Wednesday (Nov 6) unexpectedly dropped two terrorism-related charges against a Democratic Action Party (DAP) assemblyman over his alleged links to a Sri Lankan militant group, a decision decried by the opposition and security officials who had worked on the case.

Malaysia's Attorney-General's Office did not explain why it dropped the two charges against Negeri Sembilan assemblyman P. Gunasekaran, but had gone ahead with charging 11 other men who were nabbed together with him by counter-terrorism officials last month.

The DAP is one of the four parties grouped under Malaysia's governing coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH).

The 11 ethnic Indians were charged over their support for and possession of materials relating to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a defunct militant group that Malaysian police had said the men wanted to revive by collecting funds for them.

A large crowd, including Mr Gunasekaran's family members, which had gathered inside and outside the court, were all smiles after news went around of the prosecution's decision to drop the charges, The Star reported on Wednesday.

His lawyer RSN Rayer said the defence did not have details of the two charges that were dropped. "The case was supposed to be mentioned today. We were only informed this morning that the prosecution has decided to withdraw the charges and they have also informed the court they will not be proceeding with the case," he said, as quoted by The Star.

Malaysiakini news site reported that Mr Gunasekaran will remain in detention as he still faces two other charges related to the LTTE and has been denied bail.

But Malaysia's opposition leaders and security officials said they were shocked by the prosecution's decision, with some alluding to the fact that the DAP may have pushed the Mahathir Mohamad government to drop the charges against Mr Gunasekaran.

"Why does the Attorney-General have double standards for suspects in the LTTE case that involves prosecution under (security law) Sosma, compared to those who have been arrested, charged and punished for lesser offences? Is it because those arrested this time are leaders and DAP supporters?" Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

Security sources told The Straits Times that the move, if not explained clearly, could make Malaysia vulnerable to security threats as investigators have found substantial amount of evidence linking Mr Gunasekaran, the other DAP state assemblyman G. Saminathan and 10 others in the group.

Malaysia's counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay on Oct 13 had also revealed that financial transactions involving huge sums of money have been carried out over the years to revive the militant group.

"Since the beginning, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas was resistant towards the idea of charging the 12, especially the two DAP lawmaker, despite being presented with enough evidence to try them in court," an intelligence source told The Straits Times.

"It was only after the IGP stepped in and briefed him that he reluctantly agreed to proceed with the charges," the source said, referring to national police chief Abdul Hamid Bador, who was also former Special Branch director.

The decision to drop the charges also did not sit well with several officers of the Attorney-General's Chambers, who believe the directive to drop the two charges against Mr Gunasekaran came from Tan Sri Thomas, the country's top government prosecutor.

"The directive came from him (Mr Thomas). Do you know how hard it was for the investigators to find and compile all the evidence? I do. This doesn't sit well with most of us here. There was no reason given to why the charges were dropped," the source said.

Responding to the fiasco, Mr Thomas on Thursday (Nov 7) explained the decision to drop the two additional charges because Mr Gunasekaran is already facing similar charges.

"So there is no need for an overkill. It is therefore a lie to claim that all charges against Gunasekaran were dropped," he was quoted as saying by online news portal Malaysiakini.

"However, nothing stops us from charging him again down the road," he added.