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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people came back with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan described. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of blade trauma.

More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him about the operation early on Tuesday by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer went to the healthcare center, where the victims were being brought.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He explained during the night, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of those present.

"The harsh reality of the situation shook me profoundly: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The governor of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was aimed at stopping a criminal group known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang is the only criminal group that in the past few years has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

According to reporter a specialist, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "operational allies".

The gang concentrates largely on drug trafficking, but also smuggles guns, precious metals, energy resources, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and called the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the security action has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He further explained that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The governor also said that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that military attire, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the victims and presented video apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse