SRINAGAR, India (AFP) –
The chief minister of India's disputed Kashmir region on Wednesday refused to withdraw his resignation over sex scandal allegations, despite pleas from allies and the state governor.

Omar Abdullah walked out after opposition lawmakers in the state assembly said he had been involved in a prostitution racket involving 40 women and underage girls who allegedly slept with politicians and businessmen.

He described the claims as "baseless" when he stormed out of the assembly on Tuesday.

"His resignation stands. He will reconsider his decision only after the governor gives him a clean chit," a senior Abdullah ally told AFP, requesting anonymity.

State governor N.N. Vohra on Tuesday had asked Abdullah to continue as chief minister until Vohra had assessed the allegations, an official statement said, reinforcing a supportive clamour from Abdullah allies.

A letter from India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) clearing Abdullah of any links to the prostitution charges was shown to reporters by the assembly's speaker on Wednesday.

"The name of Omar Abdullah, son of Farooq Abdullah, does not figure in the list of accused persons," read the CBI letter.

Abdullah, 39, who came to power in state elections last year following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, has a reputation as a young reformist keen to tackle pollution, education and health issues in Kashmir.

The Muslim-majority region, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan, is in the grip of an insurgency that has killed more than 47,000 people over the past two decades.

The CBI has charged several former state ministers and top security officials over the prostitution scandal that first erupted in 2006, but opposition lawmakers said it was protecting some of the accused.

"The CBI is trying to cover up the issue. We want a judicial probe," opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti said as she tore up a photocopy of the letter exonerating Abdullah.

Police in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, used tear gas to disperse scores of his supporters who tried to ransack a garage owned by a senior opposition leader.

Abdullah has meanwhile faced daily protests over the rape and murder of two young Muslim women since their bodies were recovered in late May.

Their families have blamed security forces for the crime.