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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how residents returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the photographer described. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The photographer stated that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer went to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the operation was under way.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the area, stated he succeeded to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported that evening, local residents commenced searching the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me a lot: the pain of relatives, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was designed to stopping a gang known as Red Command from increasing their control.

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

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to increase its control across the region.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and serving as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates are well armed and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the state, the government representative, characterized gang affiliates as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the events worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in Penha were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse