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The photographer

A reporter who documented the consequences of a massive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

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

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted to the raid Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were taking place.

"Security forces established a perimeter and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the community, explained he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He reported during the night, area inhabitants started looking the hillside that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images show the response of those present.

"The violence of the situation affected me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state declared that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was designed to stopping a criminal group known as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

At first, local officials claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of people killed as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has managed to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Based on reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, but also smuggles firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of Rio state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

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

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

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the events worsened as the individuals fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the casualties displayed by locals in Penha had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse