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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the consequences of an extensive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people brought back mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. The total contained security forces.

One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness reported that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from entering the affected area, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers created a barrier and announced: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, stated he managed to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He described during the night, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who had been missing since the police raid.

Residents living in Penha organized the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me deeply: the sorrow of the families, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the state stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting an illegal organization called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, the Rio state government maintained that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside another major gang, with a background extending half a century.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

According to the authorities, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities in the operation has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities stating they were "shocked".

In a media appearance the following day, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department also said that military attire, vests, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse