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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people came back with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan stated. They included law enforcement personnel.

One individual was found without a head - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer explained that he initially learned about the operation early on Tuesday by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were coming in.

The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

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

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in that neighborhood, reported he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the hillside which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - the documented evidence show the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of what occurred shook me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The official of the state announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a gang called Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Originally, local officials stated that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the final tally of casualties as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has managed to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, together with another major gang, with a background extending half a century.

Based on correspondent a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking firearms, gold, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

But the number of people killed in the security action has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the state leader defended the police force.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the circumstances intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The state leader further reported that the victims shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

Via a statement through digital channels, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse