HASSAN: A 41-year-old villager allegedly died by suicide after claiming that he had murdered his 38-year-old wife, police said on Saturday.However, the wife is missing and police have launched a search.Raghu’s dead body was found in Kesagodu village of Belur taluk on Friday.Earlier, Raghu took his wife Gagana in his car to Kesagodu village on Friday and made a video call to relatives, claiming that he had murdered the wife and stated he would dump his wife’s body in Yagachi canal.After the call, he allegedly killed himself at the same spot. The couple, married 13 years ago, have two sons aged 12 and 6. They were running a bakery in Chikkamagaluru and living with their family there.As the woman is missing, a missing complaint was registered at Basavanahalli police station in Chikkamagaluru, said Hassan superintendent of police Shubhanwitha.Hassan police have registered the suicide case and launched an investigation. A search operation is underway to trace Gagana in and around Yagachi canal.Police said they are probing the reason for the crime.