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The eyewitness

A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim was discovered headless - others were "completely mutilated", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The photographer stated that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by community members living in Alemão, who contacted him alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to the healthcare center, where the casualties were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement blocked media personnel from accessing the affected area, where the operation were occurring.

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

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he managed to enter past the security perimeter, where he continued through the night.

He described that evening, community members started looking the elevated terrain that borders the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in an open area - the documented evidence show the reaction of those present.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me a lot: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The governor of the region stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to preventing an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Initially, the Rio state government claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of fatalities to be 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to increase its control across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, energy resources, liquor cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

However, the count of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the situation had escalated due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the casualties presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he claimed that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse