Rio de Janeiro, Nov 23 (IANS): Eight bodies were discovered near the Salgueiro favela in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region a day after a shootout during a police operation, according to local authorities.
The bodies were found on Monday in a mangrove after members of the Military Police's Special Police Operations Battalion entered the favela on Sunday, after an officer on patrol was shot dead the previous night, reports Xinhua news agency.
During the police operation, suspected drug traffickers who control the area engaged in a shootout with police, said state police, adding that the victim, all male, wore camouflage uniforms and carried rifle cartridges.
The bodies were all thrown into the mangrove swamp, with signs of torture, a resident told local television network TV Globo.
The Salgueiro favela is considered one of the most dangerous areas in Rio due to drug trafficking.