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Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the consequences of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has reported how local people came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer stated. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he reported. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and declared: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members started looking the mountainous area which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area arranged the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of the situation shook me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 officers was designed to halting a gang referred to as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Originally, local officials stated that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has calculated the total number of fatalities to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the state, the government representative, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the operation has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, the official justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He further explained that the events intensified because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official also said that the bodies presented by community members in the area were "altered".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse