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The eyewitness

A photographer who observed the consequences of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members returned with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. They included those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the bodies were being brought.

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He explained that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the hillside which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

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

"The harsh reality of it all shook me a lot: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, sobbing, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to halting an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the overall count of casualties as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "business partners".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, fuel, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that during the raid, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The official of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He further explained that the events had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been removed of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and showed footage appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse