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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how community members came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were arriving.

The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the community, stated he managed to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He reported that evening, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Community members living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in an open area - the documented evidence show the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of what occurred shook me deeply: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of the state declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting a gang called Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty individuals and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

They have since said that initial estimates indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has calculated the total number of fatalities at 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

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

Per Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in guns, gold, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco.

Based on official reports, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that during the raid, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

However, the count of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the situation had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in Penha were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he claimed that some of them had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force further reported that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and arms" had been removed from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse