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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the consequences of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were being brought.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, explained he was able to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area organized the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence show the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of it all shook me deeply: the sorrow of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was intended to preventing a gang known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials stated that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the operation.

Authorities later reported that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the overall count of people killed at 132.

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

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with another major gang, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, liquor smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the region, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

However, the count of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials saying it was "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He continued that the circumstances worsened as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The state leader further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post through digital channels, he said that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" were stripped from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse