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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who witnessed the results of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has described how community members brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. Among them were those of police officers.

A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the operation zone, where the operation were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, explained he managed to enter past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He explained that evening, community members commenced searching the mountainous area which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members living in Penha organized the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos display the reaction of the people there.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was intended to preventing a gang known as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Originally, state authorities maintained that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has estimated the total number of fatalities to be 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, in company with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

Based on correspondent an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, energy resources, beverages cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, the government representative, characterized organization participants as criminal extremists and described the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

But the number of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He further explained that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official also said that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

In a post through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department further reported that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and weapons" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse