Bruno Itan
An eyewitness who witnessed the results of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members returned with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.
The bodies "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan reported. They included those of police officers.
A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had evidence of blade trauma.
Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.
Bruno Itan reported that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.
The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.
The eyewitness reported that law enforcement blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were occurring.
"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."
However, the photographer, who was raised in the community, explained he managed to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.
He reported that Tuesday night, community members started looking the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing after the operation.
Community members of the Penha neighbourhood organized the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the response of the gathered crowd.
"The violence of it all affected me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.
The eyewitness
The official of the region announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to preventing a gang known as Red Command from growing their influence.
Initially, state authorities stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" lost their lives in the operation.
They have since said that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.
The public legal service, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the final tally of people killed to be 132.
Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory 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 dating back more than 50 years.
Per reporter a specialist, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".
The organization engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.
Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.
The state leader of the state, the political leader, described gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals.
But the number of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled".
At a news conference the following day, the official supported law enforcement.
"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We intended to arrest them all alive," he declared.
He added that the events worsened as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they carried out and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."
The state leader additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".
Through a message on social media, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".
A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse
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