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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has reported how community members brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. They included those of police officers.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he said. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the police action were occurring.

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

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he was able to make his way into the restricted zone, where he remained until dawn.

He described during the night, community members started looking the hillside that separates Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha arranged the located casualties in a square - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of it all affected me a lot: the grief of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

At first, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" had been killed in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations suggests that 117 individuals lost their lives.

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

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside First Capital Command, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, gold, energy resources, liquor and tobacco.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and called the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

In a media appearance the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He added that the circumstances worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

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