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The photographer

A reporter who observed the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. They included security forces.

One individual was found without a head - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to a local medical facility, where the victims were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

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

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, stated he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He reported that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of it all impacted me profoundly: the grief of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was designed to halting a gang known as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, local officials stated that sixty individuals and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

They have since said that initial estimates indicates that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the total number of people killed at 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking guns, gold, energy resources, alcohol cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, Cláudio Castro, labeled gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader defended the police force.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He further explained that the events worsened as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The state leader also said that the casualties presented by community members in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that certain victims had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official representing security forces also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" had been removed from the victims and showed footage appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse