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The photographer

An eyewitness who documented the results of a massive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has reported how community members came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he reported. Many also had evidence of stab wounds.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation in the city.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that the police blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the operation was under way.

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

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, stated he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained that evening, local residents started looking the elevated terrain that separates the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a public space - and Itan's photos reveal the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me profoundly: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was designed to preventing an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

At first, the Rio state government stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

They have since said that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

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

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside another major gang, with a background extending half a century.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has been covering criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "functions as a network" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol smoking products.

According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of Rio state, the political leader, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We intended to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He added that the situation intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse