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The eyewitness

A reporter who witnessed the results of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness described. They included security forces.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people were killed during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were being brought.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the operation were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and said: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, stated he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in an open area - the documented evidence display the response of the people there.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region declared that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at stopping a gang known as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Originally, state authorities stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured during the action.

They have since said that initial estimates suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the overall count of people killed to be 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has been able to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Per reporter an expert, who has long reported on crime in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "operational allies".

The criminal group concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles weapons, gold, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader defended the police force.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The governor further reported that the casualties presented by community members in Penha had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on social media, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A police official representing security forces also said that tactical gear, body armor, and weapons" were taken away from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse