Power to arrest and detain

(1) Any Police Officer not below the rank of a Sub-Inspector or the Competent Authority or any other officer specially empowered in this behalf by the Government may, without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, arrest and detain in custody any person if such Officer or Authority knows or has reason to believe that such person is committing or is about to commit or has committed any offence under this Act. (2) Every person arrested or detained in custody under this section shall be informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest and detention and shall be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Court of the Magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a Magistrate.