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The eyewitness

A photographer who observed the aftermath of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents brought back badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "severely damaged", he reported. Several bodies showed what appeared to be knife injuries.

More than 120 people were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him about the operation Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

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

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and announced: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he stayed until dawn.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the recovered bodies in an open area - the documented evidence display the emotions of those present.

"The violence of what occurred shook me a lot: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to preventing a gang referred to as Red Command from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has put the overall count of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has succeeded to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, in company with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

According to correspondent a specialist, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, gold, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and police said that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed during the raid has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "shocked".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the situation had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The governor further reported that the bodies shown by residents in Penha had been "tampered with".

Via a statement through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A police official representing security forces further reported that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" were stripped from the victims and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse