A knitwear factory in Bangladesh that is connected to the Nobel Prize-winning founder of Grameen Bank has been shut down indefinitely because of violent worker protests.

Local police chief Sirajul Islam told reporters Wednesday that the doors of Grameen Knitwear were shut after workers vandalized the building on Tuesday, demanding better wages.

The factory, located near the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, employs more than 2,000 workers.

Factory officials have rejected the workers' demands, saying they already pay much better than other garment factories.

The knitwear factory was launched by Mohammad Yunus, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding Grameen Bank, which pioneered microfinance, a way to give loans to the poor. The concept has helped millions of people in Bangladesh and other parts of the world.

The Bangladeshi government fired Yunus from the leadership of the bank in March, saying he had overstayed the official retirement age of 60. Yunus lost an appeal to return to the position.