Crime in Delhi rose 6% in 2018, with the police blaming the “size and heterogeneous nature of its population” for the increase. The annual crime data released by the Delhi Police on Wednesday showed a marginal drop in heinous crimes like rape, but an increase in motor vehicle thefts, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

As many as 2,043 cases of rape were reported, down just 0.78% from 2017, News18 reported. Murder rose by 3.25%, with 477 cases reported last year compared to 462 in 2017. There were 19 cases of crimes against people from North East states, compared to 23 in 2017.

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As many as 44,158 vehicles were reported stolen last year, compared to 39,084 in 2017. Over 2.36 lakh cases were registered overall, compared to 2.23 lakh in 2017. But crimes per lakh of population stood at 1,289 in 2018, compared to 1,244 in 2017.

The Delhi Police made 91,291 arrests in cases of robbery, snatching, murder and attempt to murder, burglary, vehicle theft, rape, and cases related to narcotics and arms smuggling. As many as 84,999 arrests were made in 2017 and 69,071 in 2016.

Apart from a large and heterogeneous population, other factors which impact Delhi’s crime rate are influx of immigrants, unemployment, consumerism and materialism, unplanned urbanisation and mass media, Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik claimed. “Heinous crimes last year declined by 11.72%, while major heads like dacoity, attempt to murder, robbery, rapes and riots saw a decline as well,” he said. “Even incidents of snatching and burglary have come down.”

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The detection rate of crimes improved from 34.6% in 2017 to 36.53% in 2018. Patnaik said the focus will turn to cyber crime in 2019.

The vigilance department of the Delhi Police also said that 833 police officers were added to the “doubtful integrity” list in 2018, while the names of 550 officers were removed from the list.