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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who witnessed the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how community members brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan reported. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what he described as blade trauma.

More than 120 people lost their lives in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that he initially learned concerning the action early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and said: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in that neighborhood, reported he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed through the night.

He described that evening, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos display the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of it all affected me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to preventing a gang referred to as Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, state authorities maintained that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of people killed as 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, in company with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio extensively, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

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

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the region, Cláudio Castro, characterized organization participants as drug terrorists and called the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

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

During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He further explained that the events worsened because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

Through a message through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been stripped of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame to security forces".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that tactical gear, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the casualties and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse