President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday dismissed the police chief of St. Petersburg, the Kremlin press service reported.

The Kremlin did not give a reason for Colonel General Mikhail Sukhodolsky's dismissal.

Local reports said, however, that Sukhodolsky was ousted due to the beating death of a 15-year-old boy in a St. Petersburg police station in late January.

An investigation of the death began on Feb 7. Sukhodolsky, who was also the top police chief in Russia's Leningrad region,has fiercely denied any wrongdoing by his subordinates.

After Sukhodolsky's dismissal, special police units blocked his office and asked him to collect his personal belongings and leave.

Medvedev told a meeting of Russia's Interior Ministry Board later Friday that Sukhodolsky's "hysterical" behavior after his dismissal was unacceptable for a police officer.

Before the boy's death, Sukhodolsky was a candidate to become interior minister. He was appointed St. Petersburg police chief by Medvedev in June 2011.