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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who documented the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents came back with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. The total contained those of police officers.

One of the bodies was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he reported. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness made his way to a local medical facility, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from entering the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Security forces established a perimeter and declared: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in the area, stated he managed to enter past the security perimeter, where he continued until dawn.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the hillside that borders Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in a square - the documented evidence display the emotions of the people there.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me a lot: the grief of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was designed to halting a criminal group referred to as Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, state authorities maintained that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the overall count of fatalities as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that recently has succeeded to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, together with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

According to reporter Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and becoming "business partners".

The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, gold, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as drug terrorists and called the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

But the number of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified".

During a press briefing the following day, the official defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He further explained that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official additionally stated that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he said that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse