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The eyewitness

A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has reported how residents came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he explained. Several bodies showed what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The photographer stated that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, reported he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He described during the night, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence display the response of those present.

"The brutality of what occurred affected me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The governor of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting a criminal group called Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects along with four officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the total number of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that recently has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, gold, energy resources, alcohol smoking products.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He added that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official further reported that the casualties shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message through digital channels, he asserted that some of them had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse