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The eyewitness

A photographer who observed the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents returned with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness described. They included law enforcement personnel.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he explained. Several bodies showed evidence of stab wounds.

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

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

The photographer stated that law enforcement prevented journalists from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action was under way.

"Police officers created a barrier and said: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed through the night.

He reported during the night, community members began to search the hillside that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in an open area - the documented evidence display the response of the people there.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me a lot: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting a criminal group called Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, local officials maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the overall count of people killed as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has succeeded to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, petroleum products, beverages smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities during the raid has received condemnation from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

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

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He continued that the situation worsened because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The governor also said that the victims displayed by locals in the area had been "tampered with".

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were stripped from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting a person stripping military attire {off a corpse