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A reporter who observed the consequences of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

"Police officers formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in the area, reported he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until dawn.

He reported that evening, community members began to search the elevated terrain that borders the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the response of those present.

"The violence of what occurred affected me deeply: the grief of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

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The governor of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was aimed at halting an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside a rival criminal group, and has a history extending half a century.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol smoking products.

Based on official reports, organization members have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the region, the political leader, characterized Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the four police officers fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

However, the count of fatalities in the security action has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "appalled".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the circumstances intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The state leader also said that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse