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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who observed the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has reported how local people brought back mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Several bodies showed what appeared to be stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him concerning the action Tuesday morning by community members living in Alemão, who reached out alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were coming in.

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and declared: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he succeeded to gain access into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the mountainous area that borders Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members living in Penha organized the discovered victims in a public space - the documented evidence display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of the situation impacted me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The governor of the region declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to preventing a gang referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials stated that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of people killed to be 132.

According to researchers, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Based on Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "business partners".

The criminal group engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles firearms, gold, fuel, liquor and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that during the raid, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, the political leader, described organization participants as criminal extremists and described the four police officers who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

However, the count of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the circumstances had escalated because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The state leader additionally stated that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he claimed that some of them had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse