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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the aftermath of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people returned with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Many also had what appeared to be knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness went to the healthcare center, where the casualties were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement blocked media personnel from entering the operation zone, where the police action were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the community, stated he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in a public space - and Itan's photos reveal the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of the situation shook me deeply: the pain of the families, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The official of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to stopping a gang called Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured during the action.

Authorities later reported that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the overall count of people killed to be 132.

According to researchers, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to increase its control across the region.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with another major gang, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per correspondent an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio over many years, the gang "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of Rio state, the political leader, labeled organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

But the number of casualties in the security action has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, the official defended the police force.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He continued that the situation had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The official additionally stated that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse