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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people brought back mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what appeared to be blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

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

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement blocked media personnel from entering the operation zone, where the operation were taking place.

"Police officers created a barrier and declared: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he was able to enter past the security perimeter, where he stayed until dawn.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents living in Penha proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of what occurred affected me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to stopping a criminal group called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, local officials claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

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

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside First Capital Command, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and becoming "business partners".

The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, gold, fuel, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, 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 government representative, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and described the security forces fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the security action has received condemnation from UN human rights officials stating they were "appalled".

During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

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

He continued that the situation worsened because the suspects fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the bodies shown by residents in Penha had been "tampered with".

Via a statement on online platforms, he said that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation onto the police".

A police official representing security forces additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse