A police general linked to the case of British hedge fund Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in jail last month, has been dismissed, according to a presidential decree posted on the Kremlin website.

Magnitsky, who was awaiting trial on tax evasion charges, died after 11 months behind bars in Moscow. The Russian Prosecutor General's office said that he died of a heart attack. But Hermitage Capital head Bill Browder told the BBC that Magnitsky was "killed" after refusing to sign a confession.

Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service has admitted its partial guilt in the death of the lawyer.

The dismissal of Major General Anatoly Mikhalkin, head of the tax crimes department in the Interior Ministry's Moscow branch, was reported by Russian media to be over Magnitsky's death. It was Mikhailkin's department that started proceedings against the lawyer.

Police officials say however the general was sacked after reaching retirement age.

President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a probe into the lawyer's death. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a "tragedy."

Mikhalkin's departure comes after a series of sackings last week among Federal Penitentiary Service officials, including the head of Moscow's prisons.

Investigators earlier said that Magnitsky had conspired with Browder, who has reportedly been banned from entering Russia, to establish dummy firms to illegally buy and sell Russian energy giant Gazprom's stock.

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti)