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A reporter who documented the results of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he reported. Several bodies showed evidence of blade trauma.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action in the city.

The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted concerning the action in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from entering the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces established a perimeter and announced: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, reported he managed to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.

He explained that evening, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the response of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation affected me profoundly: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

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The official of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government maintained that sixty individuals along with four officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

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

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has managed to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside another major gang, with a background extending half a century.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "operational allies".

The gang concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in guns, precious metals, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

Based on official reports, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the security forces killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials stating they were "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the state leader defended the police force.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He continued that the circumstances worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the area had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces also said that military attire, protective equipment, and weapons" had been removed from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse