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The photographer

A reporter who documented the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people returned with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. Among them were those of police officers.

A particular victim had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he said. Several bodies showed what appeared to be knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the operation zone, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers formed a line and said: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained that evening, local residents began to search the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents living in Penha organized the discovered victims in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of those present.

"The brutality of it all affected me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The governor of the state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at preventing a gang referred to as Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" had been killed in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has calculated the final tally of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that recently has managed to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The organization concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, gold, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

Based on official reports, gang members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the events intensified because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they implemented and the excessive violence by those criminals."

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

Through a message on online platforms, he said that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi representing security forces also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse