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Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

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

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he managed to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He reported during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos show the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of it all affected me deeply: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of the region announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping a gang known as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government stated that sixty individuals and four police officers" had been killed during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of fatalities to be 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs nationally, together with a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per reporter Rafael Soares, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio over many years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as drug terrorists and called the four police officers fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He further explained that the events intensified due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The state leader additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in Penha were "altered".

In a post on social media, he said that certain victims had been stripped of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi from the police department further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and weapons" were stripped from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse