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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who observed the consequences of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained security forces.

One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what appeared to be stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the casualties were arriving.

Itan explained that the police prevented journalists from going into the affected area, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces formed a line and declared: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until dawn.

He explained that evening, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in a public space - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of it all affected me a lot: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that recently has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, energy resources, liquor cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, the political leader, described organization participants as criminal extremists and called the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

However, the count of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He added that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in the area were "altered".

Through a message on online platforms, he said that some of them had been taken of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi from the police department additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse