Hundreds of Italian soldiers and police are engaged in a huge manhunt for a fugitive dubbed “Rambo” who shot dead two men before going on the run and living off the land.

The search for Igor Vaclavic – believed to be a former soldier from Serbia – is becoming increasingly urgent, with the authorities warning that he is armed, dangerous and would have little hesitation in killing again.

The hunt was stepped up over the Easter long weekend, with the authorities worried that the longer time goes on, the greater chance there is that Vaclavic will escape the dragnet.

He is believed to be living off the land in a large swathe of wooded countryside between Bologna and Ferrara in northern Italy, scavenging fruit from orchards and eggs from chicken coops and drinking from streams.

Soldiers, including elite paratroopers, and police have been hunting for the 41-year-old for more than two weeks, after he allegedly shot dead a 52-year-old man in an attempted robbery of a bar in the town of Budrio near Bologna.