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The eyewitness

A reporter who observed the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has described how residents brought back disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan described. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had evidence of stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures was under way.

"Police officers formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members started looking the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing following the security action.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in a square - and Itan's photos display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me a lot: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of Rio state announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting a criminal group referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, local officials claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

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

Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has been able to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, the gang "works as a system" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in drug trafficking, but also smuggles weapons, precious metals, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and described the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

During a press briefing the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He continued that the circumstances intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The official further reported that the victims shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been stripped of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse