🔗 Share this article

Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a massive security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people brought back mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had evidence of blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The photographer stated that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, explained he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported during the night, community members started looking the mountainous area which divides Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the located casualties in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the response of those present.

"The violence of what occurred affected me deeply: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The governor of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a gang referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, local officials maintained that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the final tally of people killed at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang is the only criminal group that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs nationally, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that throughout the operation, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as criminal extremists and called the security forces fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

But the number of people killed during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials stating they were "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He added that the events intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

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

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been stripped of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage apparently demonstrating a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse