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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who observed the results of an extensive law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he reported. Several bodies showed evidence of stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him concerning the action early on Tuesday by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were being brought.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers created a barrier and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of it all impacted me profoundly: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, sobbing, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region stated that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting an illegal organization called Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, local officials stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the total number of people killed at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per reporter a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles firearms, precious metals, fuel, liquor cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

In a media appearance the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

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

He added that the events intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The official further reported that the victims shown by residents in Penha had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he claimed that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse