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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan stated. They included those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had evidence of blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The photographer reported that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by community members living in Alemão, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from entering the operation zone, where the police action were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the community, stated he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until dawn.

He reported during the night, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members living in Penha organized the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of what occurred impacted me a lot: the grief of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state announced that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to stopping a criminal group called Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the raid.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the final tally of people killed as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, gold, energy resources, liquor smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of Rio state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as criminal extremists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties during the raid has received condemnation from UN human rights officials stating they were "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He added that the events worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor also said that the casualties shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

Through a message on online platforms, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department also said that tactical gear, vests, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a person stripping military attire {off a corpse