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The photographer

An eyewitness who witnessed the aftermath of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has reported how local people brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained security forces.

One individual was found without a head - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be blade trauma.

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

The eyewitness reported that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who contacted him alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer made his way to a local medical facility, where the bodies were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that the police prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Police officers created a barrier and declared: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he managed to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He described during the night, area inhabitants began to search the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in a square - the documented evidence reveal the response of the people there.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me deeply: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region stated that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to preventing a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

They have since said that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the final tally of casualties as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, alongside another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking firearms, gold, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the state, Cláudio Castro, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of fatalities in the security action has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

In a media appearance the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

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

He further explained that the situation had escalated because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the counterattack they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area were "altered".

Through a message on social media, he said that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A police official representing security forces also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the casualties and presented video seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse